Mizoram Premier League resumes after Santosh Trophy break

KOLKATA: After two weeks of break in the eighth edition of Mizoram Premier League due to the northeast zone qualifying round of Santosh Trophy, where Mizoram finished with a perfect record of three wins in three matches, the teams are set to return for the third round of the tournament.
Having drawn both of their matches so far, fifth-placed Aizawl will have a huge task at hand as they take on table-toppers Mizoram Police, who have won both their matches so far.They defeated Chawnpui 2-1 in the first round while in the second round, they got the better of Chanmari 3-2.
While the defending champions have failed to live up to expectations, the Stanley Rosario-Coached team will hope to take advantage of the two weeks' rest that his players enjoyed as none of them were part of the Santosh Trophy squad. On the other hand, as many as five players of Mizoram Police represented the state in the qualifying round of Santosh Trophy.
"The two-week break helped me to prepare the players. They are in good shape now and are ready to take on Mizoram Police," said Rosario, who had earlier rued the lack of time that he had to prepare the team.
"It will be a tough match but my boys are confident and looking forward for a positive result," he added.
In the other third-round matches, Chhinga Veng face second-placed Chanmari, bottom-placed Chawnpui take on Electric Veng and Venghnuai play against Ramhlun North.
Meanwhile, the sixth round of MPL will be played in Kolasib on the 18th and 19th of October. It will be the first time that Kolasib District Football Association will host the state's top flight league. It is not the first time though that matches of MPL will be played outside Aizawl. In the fifth edition of the tournament, Champhai hosted a round while Lunglei and Serchhip hosted one round each in subsequent years.
MPL under-18 to begin on Tuesday: The new season of the Mizoram Premier League under-18 will kick off on Tuesday at Lammual and it will take place on MPL match days itself. Eight teams will face each other once each with the top four teams qualifying for the semifinals.