
CHENNAI: Chennaiyin FC will face league leaders Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday for a high-stakes Indian Super League clash.
The match will present the first opportunity for the Chennaiyin fans to see new signing Pritam Kotal in action after the defender joined from Kerala Blasters FC. Should he make an appearance, Kotal will face his former side Mohun Bagan and assistant coach Noel Wilson is hoping for a quick impact from the Indian defender.
“Most of this season we have not had a settled defence. We have been forced into changes due to injuries or suspensions. Owen (Coyle) knows better but Pritam (Kotal) coming in will help us better in defence. I am sure Pritam will make our defence stronger,’’ said Noel Wilson on Monday.
Anirudh shines
All round display by P Anirudh (3/11, 44 n.o) propelled SBOA (Anna Nagar) to beat Ebenezer MHSS (Korattur) by nine wickets in the final of the CSK-Thiruvallur DCA U-15 inter-school cricket tournament. Brief scores: Final: Ebenezer MHSS (Korattur) 119 in 29.5 ovs (K Krish 34, P Anirudh 3/11) lost to SBOA (Anna Nagar) 120/1 in 26.2 ovs (P Anirudh 44 n.o).
Sriram stars in Jayendra win
Riding on A Sriram’s 58, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Vidyalaya, Kovai defeated Holy Saint, Bengaluru by two runs in a thrilling match of the Junior Super Kings inter-school T20 championship played at ICL grounds, Sankar Nagar, Tirunelveli. Brief scores: Shree Ram Vidya Mandir, Colvale, Goa 49/9 in 15 ovs (N Karthik Verma 4/ 8) lost to ACA School, Andhra 50 for no loss in 6.2 ovs; St Bede’s, Chennai 193/6 in 15 ovs (Josh Shane Francis 66, M Saravana Sangeeth Rajan 3/ 29) bt Sri Jayendra SGJ, Tirunelveli 78/8 in 15 ovs (M Saravana Sangeeth Rajan 29); Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Vidyalaya, Kovai 111/6 in 15 ovs (A Sriram 58, Krushna V Rao 3/13) bt Holy Saint, Bengaluru 109/5 in15 ovs (K Vedaraj 35); MS Dhoni Global, Hosur 87/3 in 12 ovs (Lalit Arjun 41 n.o) lost to Nellai Nadar, Chennai 91/4 in 10.1 ovs.
CFC & Norwich City FC inter-school championship
Chennaiyin FC, partnering with Norwich City FC will organise the CFC-NCFC inter-school football championship to be held at MCC School (Chetpet) from Friday, Jan 24, 2025.
About 64 teams will be competing in the Under-12 and Under-14 categories. The initiative is to promote football at the grassroots level in Tamil Nadu. The tournament provides the players a platform to showcase their skills to the club (CFC) academy scouts.
With the additional support of the Reliance Foundation, the tournament is part of a wider partnership initiated in April 2024 between Chennaiyin FC and Norwich City FC, focused on talent cultivation, promoting a vibrant football culture in the area, and enhancing the grassroots development of the sport.
“In the future, we aim to expand this initiative beyond Chennai to other districts such as Coimbatore, Trichy, and Salem. Gradually we envision making this a Tamil Nadu-wide championship, uniting young footballers from across the state,” said CFC’s Head of Marketing, Neel Jayaram, on Monday.