Subhas Bhowmick’s fate will finally be decided on Friday when IFA secretary Subrata Dutta is expected to announce the ‘verdict’ after consultations with the governing body members. The IFA disciplinary committee had decided to debar Bhowmick from sitting in the technical area, reserve bench or inside-fence of any IFA-organised meet for two years (beginning May 16), for some “derogatory” remarks against the association. The East Bengal coach appealed against the harsh punishment and explained before the governing body that he didn’t mean to insult the association.
The marathon National Football League (NFL) campaign out of the way, East Bengal’s focus shifts back to matters international. The NFL champions, who returned home on Thursday evening after winning their final match against Haywards Sporting in Goa, get back to practice Friday afternoon as they prepare for their AFC Cup away match against Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan.
East Bengal, who have already qualified for the quarter finals from group E, will top the group even if they draw with Negeri on Tuesday. “We want to win that match, too, but I’ll think of how to go about it tomorrow only,” East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick said after landing in the city.
Top seeds Ranjan Prasad, Prem Singh and Hina Valecha entered the semi-finals of the boys’ under-14, boys’ under-12 and girls’ under-18 events of the Britannia junior age-group tennis championships on Thursday.
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS
Boys’ u-14: Ranjan Prasad bt m. Ismail 8-5, Karamveer Dhillon bt M. Sarfaraz 8-1, Indranil Biswas bt Rahil Chablani 8-7, Neil D’Souza bt Aritra Choudhury 8-5. Boys’ u-12: Prem Singh bt Rohan Shroff 7-1, Subhoraj Ghosh bt Azan Piperno 7-6, Aditya Sinha bt M. Sarfaraz 7-5, Neil D’Souza bt Akshat Vijay 7-4. Girls’ u-18: Hina Valecha bt Sibangi Saraf 7-1, Anjana Ghosh bt Mohor Mukherjee 7-1, Alia Piperno bt Sabrina Sayed 7-0, Rashmi Sumani bt Payel Mukherjee 7-1.
CRICKET: J.C. Mukherjee Trophy final: East Bengal vs DKS, first day at Eden Gardens, 9.30 am.
FOOTBALL: Women’s league: Rampur MS vs NPC Sports Academy at Howrah Stadium, 3.30 pm.
TENNIS: Britannia junior age-group meet: Semi-finals at Ordnance Club.
