Osian’s Durand Cup kicks off from today

Oct 18: Cup loses sheen sans ‘Big Three’ Kolkata giants

The 120th edition of Osian’s Durand Cup football tournament kicks-off in the Capital’s Ambedkar stadium from today gets a fresh lease of life, as the country’s oldest tournament will be played under floodlights, in the knock-out stage, for the first time in its history.

The tournament is scheduled to start from October 18 with final slated on November 8. The tournament has come again to its original knock-out format due to time constraint and the denial of the dates by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as desired by the organisers.

BIG THREE OF KOLKATA TO MISS THE TOURNAMENT

The ‘big three’ Kolkata clubs Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting have expressed their inability to participate, as they would be busy in the IFA Shield and the Kolkata league which is a big affair in Kolkata, due to the crammed scheduling of the domestic calendar.

It will certainly give a jolt to the Durand tournament and the meet will also lose some sheen, as the capital football lovers have been waiting since last year to watch fierce competition among these teams. The snub from the Kolkata biggies will definitely miss the intense competition and the rivalries associated among hot shots of Indian soccer in this old prestigious tournament.

“We tried our level best and the IFA also was ready to cooperate but there was no time to have the two events separately before the National Football League (NFL) commences in November,” said Lt. Col. Joginder Singh, Secretary-General of the Durand Football Tournament Society.

TEAMS

A total of 12 teams have been directly seeded in to the pre-quarterfinals while the remaining four teams will make the grade from the knock out qualifying round that concludes on November 28. The knock-out stage, which will be played in floodlights, will commence from November 30.

Though the Kolkata teams give it a miss still eight NFL teams and four from the second division will be seen in action in the fortnight long tournament.

There will be four clubs from Goa, Defending champion Dempo SC, Salgaocar SC, Sporting Clube de Goa and Churchill Brothers. Two from Mumbai MahindraUnited andAir India, JCT Mills and Punjab Police from Punjab and Viva Kerala, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Tata Football Academy (TFA) and Army XI are the 12 teams that are directly playing in the pre-quarterfinals.

PRIZE MONEY

The Osians group for this year’s tournament has offered the total prize money of Rs 20 lacs. The winners will be richer by Rs. 8 lacs while the runners–up will take the purse of Rs. 6lacs. The rest of the amount will be disseminated between losing semi- finalists and the individual award winners. The prize money of the tournament will be increased by Rs. 30 lacs next year

OSIAN’S NOVELVENTURE (OSIAN’S SPORTS)

The Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art Pvt. Ltd., which has been building the arts infrastructure for India for the last ten years, is now stepping in the field of football and its development. The collaboration with the Durand Cup is the ideal stepping-stone towards this developmental journey.

According to Osian’s Neville Tuli, The Osian’s group is now formally entering with Infinity Optimal Solution (IOS) in the field of football. They together form ‘Osian’s Sports’ to take football into new horizons.

Talking to reporters, Tuli confirmed that this new venture has already been formally signed and IOS will have 30% stakes in this company while rest will lie with the Osian’s group.

Earlier, we used to do things in collaboration but now we are together with a goal in our mind. “ We will bring the involvement of the people and draw their excitement towards the World numero uno sports”, said Tuli.

“It will be the same in football, where wealth is but one of the requirements to change the state of the sport in India, to rejuvenate the interest and participation, and thereafter kindle a desire for excellence”, he added.

OPENING MATCH RESULT

Debutant Osian’s New Delhi Heroes convincingly defeated their opponents Bihar Regiment 3 -1 in the inaugural match of the knock-out qualifiers of the Osian’s Durand Cup at Dr. Ambedkar Stadium here on Thursday.

The Osian’s New Delhi Heroes was clearly the better side right from the start, as they scored two fabulous goals in the first half. Harrison put his team ahead in the 7th minute while Harvinder Sr. increased the margin in the 18th minute.

Osian’s New Delhi Heroes Harvinder Jr added one more in the 57 th minute to take the tally to three. M.A.Tudu scored the lone consolation goal for Bihar Regiment three minutes before the final whistle.

Osian’s ND Heroes Coach Chima Okorie said, “It was our inaugural match and we did a fairly good job, but I have great expectations from my wards and even though they won the match today, I am looking forward to a much better performance next time.

A total of 18 teams are participating in the qualifying (knockout) round and they have been divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group will then be promoted to the final knock out stage.

DIRECTLY SEEDED TEAMS: Dempo FC, Churchill Brothers, JCT, TFA, Mahindra United, Punjab Police, HAL, Viva Kerala, Sporting Club de Goa, Salgaocar, Air India and Army XI