The final of the 63^rd Subroto Cup Junior Boys International Football Tournament will witness a North East derby with Meghalaya’s Myngken Christian Higher Secondary Schooltaking on Manipur’s T.G English School at the Ambedkar Stadium in the national capital on Wednesday.

The match will kick-off at 3:30pm with Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, chief of the Air Staff and chairman, Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society, as the chief guest, and 2023 Asian Games silver medallist Harmilan Bains as the guest of honour.

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T.G English School will look to be only the second school from Manipur to win the title in Subroto Cup after Ibemcha HSS won back to back titles way back in 1979 and 1980. The school from Bishnupur has already bettered their performance from the 2023 edition where they were knocked out in the semi-finals by the eventual champions Govt. Model SSS.

They began their 2024 campaign in emphatic fashion, defeating Indore Public School 7-0 in the first group match followed by another strong performance, overcoming Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya, Nepal, with a 4-0 victory. In their last group match, a 1-1 draw against Chowbaga High School, West Bengal, saw them advance to the quarterfinals on the strength of a superior goal difference. In the quarterfinals, they edged out Amenity Public School, Uttarakhand, 1-0, thanks to Mianithoba’s crucial strike. Their semi-final clash saw a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Sri Lanka Schools Football Association, securing their place in the final.

“We are fully prepared, both mentally and physically, and confident about tomorrow’s final. Our goal is to bring the trophy home to Manipur. We respect Meghalaya as a strong team and will not underestimate them. Having participated in the Subroto Cup four times, I can say it’s always been a great experience,” said H. Imo Singh, coach, T.G English School.

Myngken Christian HSS, Meghalaya will be playing their second Subroto Cup final, their previous one was 13 years back in 2011 when they lost to NCC West Bengal and Sikkim Battalion 2-1. They have been rampant throughout the tournament and will look to be the fifth team from the Meghalaya to lift the Junior Boys trophy after St. Anthony’s HSS, Shillong in 1978, Government Boys HS, Shillong in 1999, Om Roy Memorial School, Shillong in 2013 and the latest being Hopewell Elias HSS, Shillong in 2013.

They had an explosive start to their campaign, thrashing St. Francis Xavier High School, D&D & DNH, 23-0 and continued their strong run by defeating defending champions Govt. Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37-B, Chandigarh, 1-0, with Banganson scoring the match-winner. A 5-0 win over Kejariwal Higher Secondary Vidyalaya, Bihar, on Match Day 3 ensured their top spot in Group F and their place in the knockout stages. In the quarterfinals, the Meghalaya boys comfortably beat Minerva Public School, Mohali, 3-1, with Banganson netting a hat-trick. They followed it up with a dominant 7-0 victory over Govt. Secondary School, Yazali, Arunachal Pradesh, in the semi-final, with another hat-trick from Banganson to book their spot in the final.

“It will be a tough game against a strong Manipur team, but we are well-prepared for the challenge. We’ve defeated some good teams, including last year’s champions Chandigarh, and our boys have worked hard to reach this stage. We are determined to give our best and make it a memorable final,” said Kitborlang Kharlukhi, head coach of Myngken Christian Higher Secondary School.