Soccer-India begin defence of trophy against Bangladesh
HONG KONG, May 1 (Reuters) - Reigning South Asian soccer
champions India will open the defence of their title against
Bangladesh following the draw made for the tournament on Friday.
The South Asian championships will be staged in Goa, India
from October 15-24.
India, who defeated the Maldives 2-0 in last year's final in
Kathmandu, and Bangladesh, have been drawn in Group A along with
Pakistan.
Group B consists of the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
The round-robin leg of the tournament will start on October
15 and finish five days later with the top two teams in each
group qualifying for the semifinals. The final itself will be
played on October 24.
Match schedule:
Oct 15: Group A India v Bangladesh
Oct 16: Group B Maldives v Sri Lanka
Oct 17: Group A Bangladesh v Pakistan
Oct 18: Group B Sri Lanka v Nepal
Oct 19: Group A India v Pakistan
Oct 20: Group B Maldives v Nepal
Oct 22: Semifinals: Winner Group A v runner-up Group B
Winner Group B v runner-up Group A
Oct 24: 3/4th place playoff between losing semifinalists
Oct 24: Final
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