Three local sides and a Kolkata outfit, Royal Wahingdoh, Ar-Hima Club and Shillong Lajong FC and HFS Southern Samity will kick off the 20-day tournament that will identify the qualifiers who will figure in the elite league next season.
Gruelling
After a gruelling preliminary group league phase six teams made it to the final stage. The two sides which got relegated from the first division I-League last season, Sporting Clube de Goa and Shillong Lajong FC, were seeded to play at this stage.
Guwahati hosted group ‘A' league from which United Sikkim FC and Southern Samity qualified while Mohammedan Sporting and Ar-Hima made it from group ‘B' played at Jamshedpur. Royal Wahingdoh and Vasco Sports Club qualified from group ‘C' hosted by Madurai.
Three teams are from Meghalaya, two each from Goa and Bengal and one from Sikkim. Five teams from Kerala were in the fray in the preliminary league but none made it to the final round should be a cause for concern.
Apart from Sporting Clube and Lajong FC, Mohammedan Sporting and Baichung Bhutia-led United Sikkim FC look the favourites to win the two berths.
Women's National meet
Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) is hosting the senior National women's football championship from April 25 to May 17. Reigning champion Manipur and runner-up Orissa along with former champion Bengal, Goa and Tamil Nadu will take part in the championship.
Twenty-six States have been divided into eight clusters. The league phase will go on till May 7.
The fixtures:
2nd division I-League: April 25: Royal Wahingdoh vs Ar-Hima, Southern Samity vs Shillong Lajong FC.
April 26. Sporting Club de Goa vs United Sikkim FC, Vasco Sports Club vs Mohammedan Sporting.
April 28: Lajong vs Ar-Hima, Samity vs Md. Sporting.
April 29: Wahingdoh vs United Sikkim, Vasco vs Sporting Clube.
May 1: Ar-Hima vs Md. Sporting, Lajong vs United Sikkim.
May 2: Wahingdoh vs Vasco, Samity vs Sporting Clube.
May 4: Md. Sporting vs United Sikkim, Ar-Hima vs Sporting Clube.
May 5: Lajong vs Vasco, Samity vs Wahingdoh.
May 7: Sporting Clube vs Md. Sporting, Wahingdoh vs Lajong.
May 8: Samity vs United Sikkim, Vasco vs Ar-Hima.
May 10: Samity vs Vasco, Wahingdoh vs Md. Sporting.
May 11: Sporting Clube vs Lajong, United Sikkim vs Ar-Hima. May 13: Samity vs Ar-Hima, Wahingdoh vs Sporting Clube; May 14: Md. Sporting vs Lajong, Vasco vs United Sikkim .