25th Airlines Gold Cup: Semifinals & Final postponed

The 25th edition of the Airlines Gold Cup kicked-off in Kolkata on August 2 with the final slated for August 11, but with the Saltlake Stadium not being available today and on Wednesday the organisers are forced to postpone the semifinals and final of the tournament. The new dates will be announced in the coming days.

The participating Kolkata clubs are using the tournament as preparations for the upcoming Calcutta Premier Division. The big attraction in this edition are giants Mohun Bagan AC, who last played in the tournament in 2005.

The tournament has also Mohammedan Sporting Club, George Telegraph SC, Kalighat Milan Sangha, Bhowanipore Club, Southern Samity, Techno Aryan Club and Janbazar SC in action. The pre-quarterfinals and quarterfinals were played at the Mohun Bagan ground while the semifinals and final are slated to be played at the Saltlake Stadium.


FIXTURES & RESULTS

Pre-Quarterfinals
02-Aug-2012: Janbazar SC 0-4 Bhowanipore Club (Mohun Bagan ground)
03-Aug-2012: Techno Aryan Club 3-0 Southern Samity (Mohun Bagan ground)

Quarterfinals
04-Aug-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha 2-3 Bhowanipore Club (Mohun Bagan ground)
05-Aug-2012: George Telegraph SC 4-2 Techno Aryan Club [penalties] (Mohun Bagan ground)

Semifinals
??-Aug-2012: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Bhowanipore Club (Saltlake Stadium)
??-Aug-2012: Mohun Bagan AC - George Telegraph SC (Saltlake Stadium)

Final
??-Aug-2012: Winner SF 1 - Winner SF 2 (Saltlake Stadium)

VIDEO: Comparing the Coaches of the Kolkata Maidan giants

Fellow journalist Prosun Biswas works for Bengali news channel Rplus and they on their show football.com did an interesting piece on the coaches of the three Kolkata giants - Trevor James Morgan (East Bengal Club), Santosh Kashyap (Mohun Bagan AC) and Aloke Mukherjee (Mohammedan Sporting Club) - looking at their clubs chances in the new season, allowing the coaches to speak about their aims and also allowing former players to give their judgement.

The report is in Bengali

Mohun Bagan present new coach Santosh Kashyap

Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan AC today at a press conference at their club tent presented their new head coach for the 2012/13 season in Santosh Kashyap. The press conference was attended by Anjan Mitra (General Secretary), Debasish Dutta (Finance Secretary), Uttam Saha (Football Secretary) and Alokesh Banerjee (Director of McDowell Mohun Bagan).

Santosh Kashyap, an AFC 'A' licence holder, last season coached Mumbai's Air India and seems to have impressed the Mohun Bagan management in the way he coached a young and inexperienced team in the I-League. Before joining Air India Kashyap had been coach of the Mahindra United Under-19 team.

Not only the head coach but the complete coaching staff was announced today. Kashyap will have Bernard Oparanozie as his assistant Coach, the goalkeeper Coach will be Hemanta Dora, while Jonathan Corner will be the Physiotherapist cum Rehab Specialist. The club is currently in search of a suitable physical trainer and they hope to announce a name by July 11, the day of the first training session.

The club is planning a pre-season training camp in Durgapur at the Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy, but before confirming the camp Kashyap and Oparanozie will have a look at the facilities and accommodation.

A confident Kashyap said that he knew about the pressure to coach a club of the stature and especially after two seasons without a trophy. His aim was to win as many matches as possible and aim for the I-League title.

Calcutta Premier Division: New Format & more teams

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal) has released the new format for the 2012/13 season of the Calcutta Premier Division which will see 19 teams in action, two more then last season and they have been divided these into two group - Group A with 10 teams, Group B with nine teams. The league is set to kick-off in August.

The IFA has decided to split the Kolkata big four - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Prayag United and Mohammedan Sporting - into the two groups. All teams in both groups play each other twice before five teams from Group A and four from Group B qualify for the championship round in which again all teams will face each other once, while the other 10 teams play the relegation as a round robin league with the bottom team relegated. The points from the preliminary round are not carried forward though cards will be carried forward.

In a step backwards the IFA has decided to abolish the rule of having to fielding one Under-19 footballer by each team in the Calcutta Premier Division. As a replacement the IFA is creating an Under-19 League for Calcutta Premier Division teams, which will make it mandetory for all participating sides to have such an U-19 team with players only registered with the club as they no longer will be allowed to take players on loan.


The GROUPS

Group A
East Bengal Club, Prayag United SC, Techno Aryan Club, Army XI, Kalighat Milan Sangha, Railway FC, BNR, George Telegraph SC, Eastern Railway SC, Peerless SC

Group B
Mohun Bagan AC, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Bhawanipore Club, Calcutta Port Trust, Tollygunge Agragami, Police AC, Southern Samity, West Bengal Police, Kalighat Club

VIDEO: IFA Medical Unit Story follow-up

A few days ago I posted the interesting and investigate piece by fellow journalist Prosun Biswas for a Bengali news channel on the erstwhile medical unit of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) which used to be based at the Eden Gardens, but after renovation work disappeared. Now he has done a follow-up piece on reactions regarding that story which does include my blog and what the doctors say about the old equipment lying to rot at the Saltlake Stadium.

The report is in Bengali




Here the link to the original report: VIDEO: IFA (West Bengal) medical unit disappearance .

VIDEO: IFA (West Bengal) medical unit disappearance

Fellow journalist Prosun Biswas did this interesting and investigate piece for a Bengali news channel on the erstwhile medical unit of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) which used to be based at the Eden Gardens. It was mainly intended for footballers playing on the Kolkata Maidans, but since the renovation of Eden Gardens ahead of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup the office and the medical equipment had to removed and since then the medical unit has no home with the equipment lying at the Saltlake Stadium to rot.

The report is in Bengali

Final United Sikkim FC open trials in Kolkata tomorrow

Newly promoted I-League side 'URO' United Sikkim FC will hold their last open trials for their first team tomorrow at the East Bengal Club ground on the Kolkata Maidans to unearth and find new talent.

So far the club has signed six players from open trials in Kolkata and across Punjab, who all will be part of the 2012/13 I-League squad. And depending on how the trials go in Kolkata tomorrow more players could be joining the club in their inaugural I-League season.

The trials will be conducted by the United Sikkim FC head coach Philippe 'Indi' de Ridder in the presence of Indian football legend and club co-owner Baichung Bhutia. Indi is searching for as he termed it 'Players ready to be Lions and Tigers on the field' and in the trials tomorrow he is looking especially for players with a good defensive attitude.

Interested players are asked to report at 7.15 am tomorrow at the East Bengal Club ground on the Kolkata Maidans.

To register for the trials and for further information contact 98747-37237.

Yamaha ASEAN Under-13 Cup: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha are champions!

The Under-13 boys of Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha are the champions of the second Indian edition of the Yamaha ASEAN Under-13 Cup organised by the Japanese bike maker in association with the Indian Football Association (West Bengal). The tournament was held with six youth teams from May 16 to 20 at the Mohammedan Sporting Club ground at the Kolkata Maidan.

Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha defeated Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee 3-2 in the final to be crowned Indian champions of the Yamaha ASEAN Under-13 Cup. Ashraful Ali Mondal of Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha was adjudged the Best Player of the tournament.

The Indian champions, Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha, would represent the India Yamaha Motor football team at the fourth Yamaha ASEAN Cup U-13 Football Finals to be held in Malaysia from July 13 to 15. In total six teams from India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and two from hosts Malaysia will compete for the trophy.


FIXTURES & RESULTS

Group A
16-May-2012: Samannoy, Kasba 0-2 Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha
16-May-2012: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha 3-0 Baranagar Sporting Club
17-May-2012: Baranagar Sporting Club 0-5 Samannoy, Kasba

Group B
16-May-2012: Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee 2-0 Santosh Club, Belgharia
16-May-2012: Santosh Club, Belgharia 1-0 Bagnan Ratna Sangha
17-May-2012: Bagnan Ratna Sangha 1-1 Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee

Semifinals
18-May-2012: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha 11-10 Santosh Club, Belgharia [penalties]
18-May-2012: Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee 1-0 Samannoy, Kasba

3rd Place Playoff
20-May-2012: Santosh Club, Belgharia 1-2 Samannoy, Kasba

Final
20-May-2012: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha 3-2 Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee