4th Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament: Manipur champions!

Manipur beat rivals and defending champions Mizoram 4-3 on penalties at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong tonight to lift the trophy of the fourth edition of the Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament, which was played from March 18 to 27.


RESULTS

Group A
18-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 3-0 Arunachal Pradesh
18-Mar-2013: Assam 2-0 Nagaland
20-Mar-2013: Assam 0-2 Arunachal Pradesh
20-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 4-0 Nagaland
22-Mar-2013: Nagaland 1-2 Arunachal Pradesh
22-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 3-0 Assam

Group B
19-Mar-2013: Mizoram 4-3 Sikkim
19-Mar-2013: Manipur 1-1 Tripura
21-Mar-2013: Manipur 3-1 Sikkim
21-Mar-2013: Mizoram 3-0 Tripura
23-Mar-2013: Sikkim 2-2 Tripura
23-Mar-2013: Mizoram 0-0 Manipur

Semifinals
25-Mar-2013: Mizoram 1-0 Arunachal Pradesh
25-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 0-1 Manipur

3rd Place Playoff
26-Mar-2013: Meghalaya 6-2 Arunachal Pradesh

Final
27-Mar-2013: Mizoram 1-1,3-4 Manipur [penalties]

VIDEO: Dr T Ao Football Tournament TV Promo

Here the television promo of the Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament which is currently being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong with all the Northeastern states taking part.

Meghalaya set to host Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament

The Union Minister of DoNER and Chairman of the North East Council, Pawan Singh Ghatowar has announced that the 4th Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament will be held in the state of Meghalaya. Tentatively the tournament has been scheduled from November 15 to 23 in Shillong.

According to DIPR NEC official release, it states that in order to promote healthy spirit of competition and camaraderie amongst the youth and players of the North East states, the North East Council (NEC) instituted the NEC Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament to be hosted by the Northeastern states in turn annually.

Nagaland, the home state of former India captain Dr. Talimeren Ao, hosted the inaugural Dr. T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament while Manipur and Mizoram hosted the second and third editions respectively.

Cash award for the tournament has been announced as following:

- Winner Rs. 700,000 (7 lakhs)
- Runners-Up Rs. 400,00 (4 lakhs)
- Third Place Rs. 200,000 (2 lakhs)
- 4th Place Rs. 100,000 (1 lakh)

- Fair Play Award Rs. 50,000
- 3rd/4th place finish in league stage @ Rs. 50,000 each

- Player of the Tournament Rs. 20,000
- Highest Goalscorer Rs. 10,000
- Best Goalkeeper Rs. 10,000
- Champion Team Coach and Management Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 40,000 respectively
- Runners-Up Team Coach and Management Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively

66th Santosh Trophy - Day 11: Kerala & Manipur qualify for semifinals

The 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on its eleventh day today played matches in Group A and B of the Quarterfinal League in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The third and final quarterfinal league match in Group A and B were played today with Kerala and Manipur moving into the semifinals.

Former champions Kerala defeated Maharashtra to top Group A Quarterfinal round and advance to the semifinals of the 66th Santosh Trophy at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Maharashtra who had won their first two matches and needed only a draw to advance to the last four. They took the lead in the 8th minute through in-form striker Kailash Patil converting from the spot. But Kerala hit back only two minutes later when Surjith V.V. equalised in the 10th minute. In the second half, R. Kannan scored a brace to seal the issue for Kerala. He scored his first in the 72nd minute and then put it beyond Maharashtra's reach scoring his team’s third goal in the 81st minute. Kerala finished on seven points from three matches while Maharashtra ended on six points.

Meanwhile in the other Group A match defending champions West Bengal, who had earlier bowed out of the tournament, defeated Punjab 2-1 in their last Group League match. After Gurmeet Singh put Punjab in the lead in the 16th minute, but only a minute later Mohammed Mukhtar equalised and then Tapan Maity scored in the 87th minute to turn things around for Bengal. West Bengal finished on four points from three matches while Punjab remained pointless.

In the Group B decider at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Manipur played a two-all draw against Goa and advanced to the semifinal piping Goa on a better goal difference. Both teams finished on seven points from three matches but Manipur moved-on by virtue of the better goal difference (+7) in comparison to Goa's (+3). For Manipur Kh. Thoi Singh scored the opener in the 19th minute which was neutralized by Goa's Gabriel Fernandes in the 26th minute. Prathesh Shirodkar put Goa ahead in the 45th minute but M. Govin Singh restored parity for Manipur in the 70th minute and sealed their passage to the semifinals.

In an inconsequential Group B match Meghalaya beat Uttar Pradesh 3-0. Ronnie McDonald Nongbri scored the first goal for Meghalaya in the 7th minute while Bansharai Sun doubled the lead in the 18th minute. Timmy Ryngkhlem scored the third goal in the 82nd minute. Meghalaya finished on three points from three matches while Uttar Pradesh lost all their group matches.


Day Eleven Results

Group-A - Cuttack
22-May-2012: Maharashtra 1-3 Kerala
[M: 8 Kailash Patil; K: 10 Surjith V.V., 72,81 R. Kannan]
22-May-2012: West Bengal 2-1 Punjab
[W: 17 Mohammed Mukhtar, 87 Tapan Maity; P: 16 Gurmeet Singh]

Group-B - Bhubaneswar
22-May-2012: Meghalaya 3-0 Uttar Pradesh
[7 Ronnie McDonald Nongbri, 18 Bansharai Sun, 82 Timmy Ryngkhlem]
22-May-2012: Manipur 2-2 Goa
[M: 19 Kh. Thoi Singh, 70 M. Govin Singh; G: 26 Gabriel Fernandes, 45 Prathesh Shirodkar]

66th Santosh Trophy - Day 9: Bengal out as Maharashtra, Goa & Manipur win

The 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on its ninth day today played matches in Group A and B of the Quarterfinal League in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The defending champions West Bengal are out after a goalless draw against Kerala.

Champions West Bengal played a goalless draw against Kerala in their second Group A Quarterfinal League match at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The 31-time record champions, who had lost to Maharashtra in their opener, desperately went out for a win but weren't successful. Kerala moved to four points from two matches and a chance to still progress while West Bengal are on one point from two matches.

In the day's other Group A match, Maharashtra rode on Kailash Patil's hattrick to rout Punjab 5-0. Vijith Shetty had put Maharashtra in the lead as early as the 7th minute before striker Patil scored in the 29th, 71st and the 83rd minute. Reuben D'Souza completed the rout in the 88th minute. Maharashtra after their second win are top of the group with six points matches while Punjab are yet to open their account and are out of the tournament.

In a Group B Quarterfinal League match at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar strong title contenders Goa scraped past Meghalaya 2-1. Sachin Gawas put Goa in the lead in the 57th minute only for Bansharai Sun to restore parity in the 70th minute. But Gabriel Fernandes would win it in the 87th minute for Goa, who move to six points from two matches while Meghalaya are yet to open their account.

In another Group B match Manipur pumped in half-a-dozen goals against a hapless Uttar Pradesh. L. Chaothoiba Singh scored four goals (32nd, 53rd, 65th and 68th) while Kh. Thoi Singh and Kh.Naoton Singh scored one apiece in the 78th and 92nd minute respectively. Manipur stay at the top of Group B with six points from two matches while Uttar Pradesh stay at the bottom without a point.


Day Nine Results

Group-A - Cuttack
20-May-2012: Kerala 0-0 West Bengal
20-May-2012: Maharashtra 5-0 Punjab
[7 Vijith Shetty, 29,71,83 Kailash Patil, 88 Reuben D'Souza]

Group-B - Bhubaneswar
20-May-2012: Meghalaya 1-2 Goa
[M: 70 Bansharai Sun; G: 57 Sachin Gawas, 87 Gabriel Fernandes]
20-May-2012: Uttar Pradesh 0-6 Manipur
[32,53,65,68 L. Chaothoiba Singh, 78 Kh. Thoi Singh, 90+2 Kh. Naoton Singh]

66th Santosh Trophy - Day 7: Maharashtra upset champions Bengal

The 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on its seventh day today played matches in Group A and B of the Quarterfinal League in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Champions Bengal were beaten by Maharashtra, but in other matches the favourites Manipur, Goa and Kerala won.

Defending champions West Bengal were beaten 2-1 by Maharashtra in their opening quarterfinal league match at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. ONGC striker Kailash Patil opened the scoring for Maharashtra in the 20th minute, which was doubled by Linekar Machando in the 70th minute against the run of play. But West Bengal captain Tarif Ahmed pulled one back in the very next minute but Maharashtra managed to hold on until the end.

In another Group A match Kerala rode on an injury-time strike from Shibinlal to scrape past former champions Punjab 2-1. Punjab went into the lead in the 38th minute through a Rohit Kumar strike. But Kerala restored parity in the 73rd minute through Sajith T. before Shibinlal sealed the fate in the 93rd minute.

In a Group B quarterfinal league match at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhuwaneswar, Manipur beat Northeastern rivals Meghalaya 1-0. L. Chaothaiba Singh scored the match-winner in the 62nd minute.

In the groups other match Goa overcame minnows Uttar Pradesh 2-0 with Gabriel Fernandes and Agnelo Colaco scoring one apiece in the 54th and 61st minute respectively.


Day Seven Results

Group-A - Cuttack
18-May-2012: West Bengal 1-2 Maharashtra
[W: 71 Tarif Ahmed; M: 20 Kailash Patel, 70 Linekar Machando]
18-May-2012: Punjab 1-2 Kerala
[P: 38 Rohit Kumar; K: 73 Sajith T., 90+3 Shibinlal]

Group-B - Bhubaneswar
18-May-2012: Manipur 1-0 Meghalaya
[62 L. Chaothoiba Singh]
18-May-2012: Goa 2-0 Uttar Pradesh
[54 Gabriel Fernandes , 61 Agnelo Colaco]

66th Santosh Trophy - Day 5: Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra move ahead

It was the fifth day of the 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy across Orissa in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Baragarh.

It was match day three, the final round in five of the seven Clusters today. At the end of the day it was clear who would make it to the Quarterfinal League - Delhi made it from Cluster I, Kerala from Cluster II, Meghalaya from Cluster III, Maharashtra in Cluster IV and Uttar Pradesh from Cluster V. All went through on a all win record.

While the favourites made it from Cluster I to IV, it was a major upset that Uttar Pradesh made it to the Quarterfinal League from Cluster V by topping Karnataka, which was possible due to their win on May 13 against the side from south India.


Day Five Results

Cluster-I - Sambalpur
15-May-2012: Andaman&Nicobar Island 1-12 Gujarat
[A: 60 Manuah; G: 16,67,85,90 Mehul Rana, 37,75 Jahid Pathan, 46 Dipesh Pun, 61,79 Sagar Thapa, 65 Imtiyaz Shaikh, 78 Aamir Pathan, 81 Mandeep Barad]
15-May-2012: Jharkhand 1-3 Delhi
[J: 85 Anjan Dey; D: 44,62 Mahender Singh, 79 Kamal Singh]

Cluster-II - Cuttack
15-May-2012: Himachal Pradesh 0-4 Kerala
[46 Rakesh K., 54,59 Vineeth Antony, 75 Mohammed Rasi]

Cluster-III - Baragarh
15-May-2012: Madhya Pradesh 1-0 Pondicherry
[72 Prateek Lal]
15-May-2012: Meghalaya 5-1 Chandigarh
[M: 45+1,90 Bansharai Sun, 48 Timmy Ryngkhlem, 81 Regional Shadap, 90+4 Restom Khriam; C: 88 Harminder Singh]

Cluster-IV - Cuttack
15-May-2012: Jammu&Kashmir 2-5 Maharashtra
[J: 65 Sandeep Sharma, 78 Aman Thapa; M: 7,63 Reuben D'Souza, 67 Kenistan C., 71 N.Z. Ur-Rehman, 73 Arvind George]

Cluster-V - Bhubaneswar
15-May-2012: Nagaland 2-3 Uttar Pradesh
[N: 18,30 Kin Sumi; U: 5 Suresh Patel, 30 Ballu Verma, 90+1 Mohammed Kammaluddin]
15-May-2012: Karnataka 5-0 Bihar
[39 B: Prakash, 48 Lokeshwar Singh, 49 Deepan Thapa, 69 Amoes, 77 S. Rajesh Jr.]

66th Santosh Trophy: Meghalaya name final squad

The Meghalaya Football Association has named their final 20 players squad for the 66th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy which will be played from May 11 to 27 across Orissa. The MFA had held open trials to select their state team.

Former Shillong Lajong FC midfielder Niwan-O-Gathphoh has been named captain of the Meghalaya state team, which is a combination of youth and experience from sides who have played I-League Division 2 this season.

L. Darlong has been appointed by the Meghalaya FA as the coach of the Meghalaya state team, who have been drawn in the preliminary round Cluster III along with Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Pondicherry playing their matches on May 11 (vs Pondicherry), May 13 (vs Madhya Pradesh) and May 15 (vs Chandigarh).


MEGHALAYA

Players
Allwyn Patweth, Labios Nongtdu, Maitshaphrang Kharumnuid, Ailad Kynta, Salseng Sangma, Restom Khriam, Regional Shadap, Dapbor Bareh, Ambil Sun, Batkupar Lamare, Brolington Warlarpih, Kitkupar Khar-shiing, Milton Kharsati, Fullmoon Mukhim, Ronnie McDonald Nongbri, Bansharai Sun, Niwan-O-Gathphoh (Captain), Timmy Ryngkhlem, Stephanfield Lanong, Chandra Pakyntein

Officials
L. Darlong (Coach), M. Warbah (Manager)

Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy: Mizoram champions

Mizoram are the new Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy champions after beating Sikkim 9-8 on penalties yesterday at the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok. The match had ended one-all in regulation time. The Dr. T. Ao NorthEast "DONER" Football Trophy was played at the Paljor Stadium from March 2 to 9 with the seven Northeastern states plus hosts Sikkim taking part. The tournaments aim is to promote football in the Northeast.

Mizoram received the champions trophy and Rs 700,000 (7 lakhs) while Sikkim were awarded Rs 400,000 (4 lakhs) and the runners-up trophy. Other prizes were handed out to the players, who performed throughout the tournament.


FIXTURES & RESULTS

Group A
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Sikkim

02-Mar-2012: Sikkim 2-2 Arunachal Pradesh
03-Mar-2012: Mizoram 3-1 Assam
04-Mar-2012: Sikkim 1-3 Mizoram
05-Mar-2012: Arunachal Pradesh 1-2 Assam
06-Mar-2012: Sikkim 1-0 Assam
07-Mar-2012: Arunachal Pradesh 1-1 Mizoram

Group B
Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura

02-Mar-2012: Manipur 4-2 Nagaland
03-Mar-2012: Meghalaya 1-3 Tripura
04-Mar-2012: Manipur 1-0 Tripura
05-Mar-2012: Nagaland 0-0 Meghalaya
06-Mar-2012: Manipur 1-0 Meghalaya
07-Mar-2012: Nagaland 1-1 Tripura

Semifinals
08-Mar-2012: Manipur 0-1 Sikkim
08-Mar-2012: Tripura 2-4 Mizoram

Final
09-Mar-2012: Sikkim 1-1(8-9) Mizoram [on penalties]

Sikkim to host Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy

Sikkim is set to host the next edition of the Dr. T. Ao NorthEast "DONER" Football Trophy will be played at the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok from March 2 to 9, 2012. The tournament will be organised in the state by the Sikkim Sports and Youth Affairs Department (S&YA) with financial support from the North Eastern Council (NEC) and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER).

The aim of the Dr. T. Ao NorthEast Football Trophy is to promote football in the Northeastern region. The tournament would see all the eight Northeastern states take part besides hosts Sikkim there would be Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura in action.

The champions would received Rs 200,000 (2 lakhs), the losing finalists Rs 100,000 (1 lakh) and the semifinalists would get Rs 50,000 each. Besides these there would be a Fair Play Trophy with a cash reward of Rs 50,000, Player of the Tournament (Rs 25,000) plus Highest Goalscorer and Best Goalkeeper (Rs 10,000 each) of the tournament. The coach and manager of the champions will be given Rs 20,000 each, while the coach and manager from the runners-up team would get Rs 10,000.

The tournament was first held in May 2003 in the Assamese capital Guwahati with the hosts winning 4-1 on penalties against Manipur. The first edition had been organised by the Sport Authority of India, Guwahati then, while the last edition had been played in Manipur.

North-East Premier League set for March 2012 launch

The ambitious North-East Premier League (NEPL) is set for a March 2012 launch. It is an AIFF initiative being pushed by the federations vice-president Ankur Dutta, who hails from the Northeast. The NEPL is an effort to promote football in the region with Calcutta-based Celebrity Management Group set to organise the league. The overall prize money would be Rs 10 Million (1 crore) with the clubs set to earn further potential revenues from TV rights and sponsorship sales.

The NEPL will feature the state champions from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. There had been an earlier proposal to include the champions of Sikkim as the eight team, but that idea has been dropped due to logistical reasons. Now a pre-tournament will be held amongst the state league runners-up of the seven states to determine the eighth team.

As per plans the eight participating teams will be split into two groups of four teams each with all playing each other home-and-away in the group stage. From there the top two teams will qualify for the semifinals with the winners moving on into the finals.

As per the NEPL rules only commercial entity football clubs will be allowed to participate meaning Public Sector Undertaking clubs, which are common in the Northeast will not be allowed to participate; while winning the league will open opportunities in the I-League Division 2.

The NEPL is set to be played over a nine week period from March 2012 onwards with travel and fatigue a potential problem which the organisers would have to look into.

North-East Premier League on the cards

To further promote club football across the Northeastern states the All India Football Federation is working on plans with the regions state football associations to launch the North-East Premier League. Kolkata-based Celebrity Management Group is set to partner the AIFF to organise and raise sponsorship for the league.

The NE Premier League is set to feature the top teams from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura along with a team from Sikkim. It will be an eight team league. The format has not been finalised yet, but the AIFF is pushing for a start during the ongoing 2011/12 season.

It has been decided that a clubs participating squad could include upto three foreigners, but it would be mandatory to have no less than six local players and the same number of Under-21 players. The rest of the team could be from anywhere in India with no Northeast restrictions.

From this set of players the three foreigners, two local players and one Under-21 would have to be in the starting eleven, while also having such a combination amongst the playing eleven throughout the game.

The aim of the league is to not only promote club football in the North-East, but also talent from the region and bridge the gap with the rest of the country.

Manipur to host Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament

This time around Manipur will play hosts for the Dr T. Ao Memorial Football Tournament to be played from November 21 to 30 in Imphal. The tournament is funded by the ministry for Development of North Eeastern Region (DoNER). The last edition was played in Nagaland.

In all the seven Northeastern states along with Sikkim will be seen in action. The eight participating states will be divided into two groups of four teams each with the top two sides making it to the semifinals. And the tournament can be seen as an own Santosh Trophy of the Northeast in this football crazy part of India and it gives young talent the chance to compete with the best from the region, who aren't playing at the top national professional level.

The All Manipur Football Association has named L. Nandakumar Singh as the states coach with S. Premkanta Singh as the goalkeeping coach and Ng. Brojendra Singh as the manager. 28 players have been called for the trials to select the final squad for Manipur, who would like to keep the trophy in the state.