Manitombi named Bagan skipper

Manitombi Singh will lead Mohun Bagan in the ensuing season. Ashim Biswas will be his deputy. The decision to appoint the side-back as captain came after days of dithering by club officials who even toyed with the idea of leadership on a match-by-match basis. Shyamal Banerjee was named assistant coach.

“We decided to appoint Monitombi since the match-by-match idea didn’t seem feasible,” explained the club’s assistant secretary Balaram Chowdhury. “While deciding on him we took into account his performance last season and also his loyalty towards the club.”

To boost the club’s morale in the Super Division League, Mohun Bagan have decided to introduce incentives. As a first step, the best player, judged by a five-member committee, will receive the Dhiren Dey memorial trophy plus an award of Rs 25,000. The committee comprises Ashok Chatterjee, Pratap Ghosh, Pradip Chowdhury, Manash Bhattacharjee and Mangal Purakayastha. Sailen Manna and Chuni Goswami along with coach Subrata Bhattacharya will play advisory roles in the selection.

Eduardo Coelho, the Brazilian stopper-back from HAL, joined his new teammates in practice on Monday. Another Brazilian, striker Regis, will arrive for trials on Thursday.

Mohun Bagan kick off their campaign against Wari on Friday.

Ever-Ready win

Ever-Ready sailed past FCI 3-1 in a Super Division League encounter at Mohammedan Sporting ground. The winners led 2-0 at half-time.

Jayanta Sen, Shankha Roy Chowdhury and Ratan Das scored for the winners while Mohammed Ali pulled one back for FCI. Rennedy Singh made his debut for Ever-Ready and was impressive, having played a role in the first two goals.

Elsewhere, George Telegraph beat Mohammedan AC by a Surajit Roy goal. The tie, however, saw the rival captains Sheikh Azim and Gbenga Lawal, respectively, being given marching orders for indulging in fisticuffs.

Wari also came up trumps, scraping past Eastern Railway 2-1. Sanjib Sarkar and Shyam Sundar Das struck for the winners while Benoy Saha scored for the railwaymen.

Goan referee for Derby

The IFA has decided to have a Goan referee to officiate the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan derby on July 18. This will be the first instance of such an arrangement in the Super Division.

TODAY IN SPORT

FOOTBALL: CFL, first division group A: City AC vs Customs (SAP I); SAIL vs Taltala DS (Barasat Stadium); ECLSA vs Kidderpore (Mohun Bagan); Aryan vs Police AC (East Bengal); Muslim Inst. vs BNR (Central Park); Milan Bithee Howrah vs WB Police (Tarun Sangha); Kalighat vs Howrah Union (Rabindra Sarobar). Matches from 3.30 pm.

GOLF: The Telegraph Merchants’ Cup at RCGC.