By IANS
Kolkata : The 24-member Indian rugby team for the seven-day U-19 Asian Trophy championship to be played in Brunei has been announced.
Koklata boy Ajmin S. Janirtirkordy will lead the team that sets off Wednesday evening to Brunei to take part in the championship from Dec 15-21.
Facing a tough challenge, the team will play against Brunei, Arabian Gulf and Chinese Taipei for the championship.
“We have a good preparation. We had camped for the last 20 days and the boys are looking sharp. They had participated in one such tournament in Karachi two years back,” Guneet Grewal, a team official, told IANS.
“We defeated Pakistan and Kazakistan and then lost to Sri Lanka. But you see we play it (rugby) here only in pockets. But we hope to give some competition,” he said.
The team has undergone thorough preparation under Fijian coach Usaia Rokonai Binmaiwai, who is said to have coached two senior Fiji rugby teams for World Cup with reasonable success.
“We have a good team and hope to do well. We will at least give a fight,” he said.
The team, which has a major composition from the Kolkata’s three Armenian schools, also has a member from Delhi, four from Mumbai and three from Bangalore.
The 15-a-side tournament will be played in a league-cum-knockout basis.
India play Brunei Dec 15, Arabian Gulf Dec 18 and Chinese Taipei in their last league encounter Dec 21.
Team:
Arez M. Khoyagani, Ajmin S. Janirtirkordy (captain), S. Vartomiyan, M. Mirhssian, A. Soureshkhani, A. Gevorgyan, R. Netarwala, R. Sethna, K. Dagar, A. Simonians, E. Teymourian, V. Tevosyan, N. Nereyeth, D. Kohli, S. Tudu (vice-captain), R. Balaji, J. Mondal, S. Jamshed, A. Masihi, M. Sheikh, S. Ghosh, K. Unwala, S. Zaffer and B. Rashoyan.
Coach: U.R. Binmaiwai
Manager: Mukhtar Alam