The town of Sigatoka would be a buzz as it expects to attract a bumper crowd for the 87th Then India Sanmarga Ikya (TISI) Sangam Fiji convention which will be held in Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka over the Easter weekend.
A total of 57 teams have been registered for the soccer event to be played under the TIV (Then India Valibar) Sangam banner. The Super Premier and Premier division will accommodate for 16 teams each whereas the Senior division will have 18 teams along with the 7 teams in the Veterans category.
A total of 13 overseas teams will be participating the soccer competition.
The tournament is also expected to attract some big names in terms of current and former district reps featuring for their respective teams. Lautoka laced with current and former district reps such as Salesh Sami “Bula”, Madre Viran, Zibraaz Sahib and Alvin Avinesh will be top contenders to retain the Super Premier title they won last year.
They seed Pool A which also have Auckland,Nalovo and newly promoted Labasa with the services of Edwin Sahayam and Amit Kanaiya. Newline Chemical sponsored Suva with the services of Dinesh Mudaliar head Pool B with Navua, Salovi and face their biggest challenge against Ba who are likely to be boosted with the inclusion of current Ba reps Ronil Kumar, Avinesh Swamy and Shameel Rao.
Pool C has been dubbed as the ‘Pool of Death’ with New Zealand outfit Middlemore expected to be led by former national team Goalkeeper Nicholas Lawrence seeded alongside fellow kiwi outfit Hamilton who will have the services of Salesh Kumar and Sumeet Shankaran as well as Munit Krishna led Malolo and Rahul Krishna’s Nadi. Rifle Range from Lautoka are front runners in Pool D grouped with neighbours Vitogo, Vunisamaloa and Vatiyaka from Ba.
The tournament will officially kick off on Friday the 18th of April with the Quarter Finals to be played on Sunday the 20th of April followed by the Semi Finals and Finals on Monday the 21st of April.
MEDIA RELEASE