Tamil Nadu last clinched the title under the then Serbian head coach Milan Opacic in 2018, when the state previously hosted the annual tournament. The Tamil Nadu team, which has CV Sunny as its chief coach and H Muin Bek as captain, has been pitted alongside Uttarakhand, Delhi and Mizoram in Group C for the opening round.
“We are not under pressure [because of the fact that we are playing at home]. We will consider it as just another National tournament,” India international Muin Bek said while addressing the media at a city hotel here on Saturday.
“I expect all the matches to be tough, so we will take it match by match. [Irrespective of the strength of the opponent], we will respect every team. But, we will look to win our group matches by a good margin since the results carry over into the next round. If we do that, we may have an advantage in the knockouts,” added Muin Bek.
On his part, former India player Sunny said: “We have a good mix of youth and experience. The boys are ready to take their game to the next level.” Overall, a total of 16 teams will participate in the men’s event, with each group comprising four sides in the opening round.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu women’s team, which finished second in 2019 (January), would also hope to impress on home soil. Led by A Ashmitha, Tamil Nadu has been placed along with Railways, Delhi and Maharashtra in Group A for the first round. Former Tamil Nadu men’s team player R Delhi Raj is the head coach of the women’s side.
“We have been training for months. We are motivated to deliver our best. Winning or losing a match is secondary,” Ashmitha told reporters.
The women’s draw consists of 15 teams that have been divided into four groups (4 teams in 3 groups and 3 teams in 1 group). The National Championship, whose last edition took place in Ludhiana (Punjab) in 2019 (December), is back after a two-year break.
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