Nagaon, Sept. 11: Assam Rifles entered the semi-finals of the Debesh Chakravarty football tournament, blanking out Jewel Star Club of Guwahati 4-0, in the last quarter-final match at the Railway?s Vivekananda Stadium in Lumding today.
S. Changuli of Assam Rifles drew first blood in the 35th minute, which was further consolidated by Akum Ao with a hattrick. Ao found the net in the 39th, 69th and 74th minutes.
The Guwahati outfit displayed an improved performance compared to their previous matches, but failed to capitalise on several opportunities in either halves of the match.
Sports Authority of India (SAI), Cuttack, will meet Nagaland police in the first semi-final tomorrow while Assam Rifles will meet Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) SC, Guwahati, in the second on Wednesday.
The final match will be played on Thursday.
SAI, Cuttack, defeated home team Lumding Coaching Centre 3-1 in the first quarterfinal three days ago. ASEB SC scripted a record, defeating Bathou Club of Bongaigaon 10-1 in the second semi-final on Friday.
Playing directly in the quarterfinals, last year?s runners-up Nagaland police defeated SAI, Guwahati, 2-0 in the third quarterfinal match on Saturday.
As many as 13 teams, including Assam Rifles, ASEB SC, Nagaland police, SAI Cuttack and SAI Guwahati, are participating in the tournament.
Holders Assam Regimental Centre, Shillong, could not participate due to other engagements. The tournament was participated by leading clubs like Oil India Limited, Duliajan; Assam Police Blues, Guwahati; Kidderpore SA, in its earlier edition in 2003.
However, this time, the clubs could not participate due to their prior engagements in other tournaments.
Hockey players selected
Two promising hockey players from Manipur ? Ksh Herojit (goalkeeper) and M. Chittaranjan (forward) ? have been selected provisionally to join the senior men?s national camp, reports a correspondent from Imphal.
The one-month camp, under way in New Delhi from Saturday, will prepare the Indian team for the coming 27th Champions Trophy.
The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has also nominated Ksh Thoiba Singh and L. Tiken Singh as selectors for the inter-centre competitions for Under-18 and Under-16 boys. The competitions will be held in Mumbai and Amritsar respectively later this month.
The 6th Dinachandra 1st division hockey tournament of Imphal will commence from October 9 at the Khuman Lampak hockey stadium.
