Bikramjit to lead India U-14 soccer team in Iran

Chandigarh, Mar 20 (UNI) Bikramjit Singh of Chandigarh will lead an 18-member Indian team in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-14 Football Festival to be held in Iran from March 23 to 30.

Striker Abhishek Das of Bengal has been appointed vice-captain while Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) secretary Rakesh Bakshi will accompany the team as manager, CFA president Ravinder Talwar said while announcing the team here today.

The probables for the tourney have been attending a national coaching camp from February 12 at the Sector 17 football stadium here under the supervision of All India Football Federation coach S Balan of Kerala and assistant coach Carlos Gomes of Goa.

Balan was confident that the boys would give good display in Iran. ''It is a festival aimed at initiating the youngsters into the game, understand the game and get exposure. I am confident that we will finish on top,'' Balan said.

Out of 18 players, ten had participated in the AFC Under-13 Festival in Uzbekistan.

Team: Goalkeepers: Sudipta Bannerjee (Bengal), Rajesh S (Tamil Nadu) Defenders: Tirthankar Sarkar (Bengal), Ashish Chetri (Sikkim), Arashpreet Singh (Chandigarh), Samuel Shadap (Meghalaya), Shalun Pires (Goa), Vikash Gupta (Chandigarh), Sumit Rawat (Delhi).

Midfielders: Bikramjit Singh (captain, Chandigarh), Harpreet Bedi (Chandigarh), Sajandeep Singh (Chandigarh), Gaurav Sharma (Uttaranchal).

Forwards: Nikhil Regni (Uttaranchal), Abhishek Das (vice-captain, Bengal), Niswajit Dutta (Bengal), Jonny Kumar (Chandigarh) and Manandeep Singh (Haryana).

Coach: S Balan (Kerala) Assistant coach: Carlos Gomes (Goa).

Manager: Rakesh Bakshi (Chandigarh).

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