Quarters decided

ASPL CRICKET

Guwahati, July 3: After 60 matches and 173 goals being scored in the group stage matches, the first Assam State Premier League's quarter-final line-up was drawn up and the trophies unveiled at a city hotel here today.

Having finished their group stage campaign with an unbeaten run, Morning Star FC, Diphu, will host Tezpur United FC in the first leg of the first quarter-final while lower Assam zone table toppers FC Green Valley will face visitors Rhino FC, Golaghat, in the first leg of the second quarter-final.

Trinayanjyoti FC, Dibrugarh will host Moran Town Club while Guwahati FC will face a trip to Kokrajhar to face Baarhoongkha AC in the first leg of the third and fourth quarter-finals respectively.

Earlier, in the draw for the quarterfinals, the champions and runners-up from the lower Assam and Upper Assam zones were placed as "seeded teams" respectively in one group while the third and fourth placed teams were placed as "teams to be drawn". The seeded teams will play the first leg of the quarter-finals at home while the second leg will see them play on away turf.

"We have arrived at an all-important junction of the league and it's great to see such a fine response in the first edition. The crowd has been great in most of the venues, including Diphu and Kokrajhar, among others, and the clubs have done a fine job in putting up a splendid show. I am sure that some of the top teams from around the country will make their way into the state to scout for talent very soon," said Ankur Dutta, secretary of Assam Football Association.

The semi-finals will also be held in home-and-away format from July 15 to 19 and the final will be held July 25.

Silchar soccer: Tarapur AC held Arunachal SS to a 3-3 draw in their match of the Ramanuj Gupta Trophy Silchar super league football tournament at SM Dev Stadium in Silchar today. Tarapur's goals were scored by Lalrenbaula (sixth minute), Lalrenlaite (16th minute) and Lalrunlaina (68th minute), while Lalrenpuite (53rd minute), Lalben Sanga (74th minute) and Lalchen Sanga (76th minute) netted the goals for Arunachal.

Fide rating: Bhuvnesh Dixit of GTC Chess Foundation and Adnan Akhtar and Panchalya Kashyap of Assam Chess Club, an unit of city-based sports promotion NGO Akshayam, have been awarded Fide rating by the World Chess Foundation in its July rating list. Bhuvnesh has been awarded 1,279 points, Adnan attained a rating of 1,346 and Panchalya attained 1,123.

Nagaland volleyball: The ninth I. Kawoto Trophy Volleyball got under way in Kohima district in Nagaland on Thursday. Parliamentary secretary for information and public relations Khekaho Assumi inaugurated the meet at Lumithsami village under Akuluto subdivision of the district. The tournament is a three-day event and 13 teams are participating in it.