From 11,500 feet to the Durand Cup: 1 Ladakh FC make historic entry
The Spituk Stadium, which stands at an altitude of 11,500 feet, is home to 1 Ladakh, which is soon going to earn a passage in history as the first club from the faraway Himalayan region to play in the 134th edition of the Durand Cup.
'It's a massive opportunity not just for 1 Ladakh FC but also for the UT of Ladakh to be playing at Durand Cup for the first time ever. A huge thanks to the organisers,' 1 Ladakh FC co-founder and general secretary of Ladakh Football Association (LFA), Tsering Angmo, told TOI.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
'We are a team from the northernmost part of India and playing in the Durand Cup is an opportunity for us to bring Ladakh to the Indian football map. We will use this opportunity to spread the message of awareness on climate change.
You will see we will be very unique in how we play football and carry our message to the people of the country,' she added.
A brainchild of Tsering and former Real Kashmir co-owner Shamim Meraj, 1 Ladakh has the black-necked crane on the crest and traditional motifs on the jerseys. Their eco-friendly jerseys, unveiled by the Dalai Lama, have already sold in thousands outside India, especially in Europe.
The opportunity to bring their football from an altitude of 11,500ft to the mainland national stage is one that the two-year-old club has cherished since its inception.
'Our expectations are very grounded. For now we just want to compete well and give a good show at the Durand Cup and then hope for some magic and miracles!' was how Tsering explained their upcoming sojourn.
However, 1 Ladakh are leaving no stone unturned in their endeavour to compete with some of the best in the country. The dearth of professionals from the region has led them to recruit 10 footballers from around the country to guide their challenge, along with the Ladakhi players.
Former Chennaiyin FC assistant coach, Rajan Mani, will be at the helm of the club. He was a youth coach at
Bengaluru FC
as well and also the ex-head of youth development with the U16 Indian team.
'Playing in the mainland, with the huge difference in weather conditions from Ladakh, can be a deterrent to the players' performance. So, we are taking steps to acclimatise,' Tsering explained.
Hence, the team will be travelling to Delhi on Friday and undergo a 10-day conditioning camp at IMT Ghaziabad. They will then avoid unnecessary air travel emissions and travel by train to Jamshedpur, the destination of their Group C clashes, and hold a five-day camp in collaboration with
Jamshedpur FC
, ahead of their Durand Cup opener against Foreign Services Team at JRD Tata Sports Complex on Aug 2.
The very existence of the club, touted 'the greenest club in South Asia' with its mission to hit net-zero carbon in four years, challenges the status quo.
Apart from their goal of eventually playing in the I-League and becoming the first club from Ladakh in India's top-tiers, it's their environmental message that makes them the club to watch out for at Durand Cup. Tsering said, 'We will be the team using minimum plastic and have a calculator to measure our carbon footprint.'
Catch Manika Batra's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 3. Watch Here!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Deccan Herald
2 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
Kujur, Sreeshankar, Annu shine
Star sprinter Animesh Kujur, veteran javelin thrower Annu Rani, and long jump ace Murali Sreeshankar lived up to expectations by winning their respective events at India's maiden World Athletics Continental Tour competition here on Sunday. The bronze level event went off smoothly but the quality of competitions did not rise to any great heights. There was drama in store for Kujur. The 22-year-old pulled up after a few paces in his men's 100m heat race in the morning. He then came out to run his 200m heat half an hour later and qualified for the final with a time of 20.99 seconds. In the evening, he ran 20.77 seconds in the 200m final to win the gold. Ko Seunghwan of Korea (20.95 seconds) and Indian Ragul Kumar (21.17 seconds) were second and third respectively. Kujur, representing Odisha, holds national records in both 100m (10.18 seconds) and 200m (20.32 seconds). Sreeshankar, representing JSW, was up against rising teenager Shahnavaz Khan, who won gold in the Uttarakhand National Games in February. The 17-year-old Khan was leading with his fourth round jump of 8.04m, while Sreeshankar was second with 7.95m. But the 26-year-old produced 8.13m in his final attempt to take the gold in dramatic fashion for his fourth title in a row since coming back from a long injury lay-off. He is, however, yet to breach the Tokyo World Championships direct entry mark of 8.27m. In women's javelin, Asian Games champion Annu Rani bagged the gold with a fourth round throw of 62.01m, thereby strengthening her chances of making it to the Tokyo World Championships in September. The men's javelin event disappointed the crowd at the Kalinga Stadium as the Indian participants barely crossed the 80m mark. India's 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare, the latest entrant in the 80m club at the Indian Open Athletics Meet in Pune last month with 80.95m, took the silver with 80.73m.
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Frank chat between Ramesh and Pragg leads to transformation
CHENNAI: AROUND the time when D Gukesh was crowned as the world champion, RB Ramesh and R Praggnanadhaa had a very frank conversation. The interaction between teacher and student didn't focus on Gukesh's title but the spotlight was on the wider developments within Indian chess. "There were things we discussed at the end of last year," Ramesh told select media during the fifth round of the Chennai Grand Masters on Monday. "Does it have a negative impact on you? Because Gukesh, rating wise, he went up. Pragg was 2740 in January. In December also he was 2740. He had had some ups and downs. 'So do others' performances have an impact on you?' These were some of the issues we discussed." The irony wasn't lost on India's very wide chess community as well. In August 2023, Praggnanandhaa had qualified for the Candidates after advancing to the final of the World Cup. Four months later, Gukesh joined him in the 11th hour. Yet, it was Gukesh who topped the Candidates. Erigaisi, the oldest among the trio, meanwhile went on a rampage and saw his ratings jump by 60 points. Because Ramesh has worked with Praggnanandhaa for a long time, he knew he would get a frank response. "Otherwise, what's the point in having the conversation," Ramesh said. "If you want to hide things, I won't even be asking these questions. If my student is not going to be frank with me, I won't be working with them. And I'm not going to be honest with my students, they should not be working with me. There should be some trust between the trainer and the player." So the duo addressed the 19-year-old's mental state (something they have always spoken about).
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Would have told Virat Kohli to retire after England Tests: Ex-India chief selector
Former India captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has said the national selectors should have persuaded Virat Kohli to delay his retirement from Test cricket until after the recent five-match series in announced his decision to retire from Test cricket just days before the start of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, shortly after Rohit Sharma also retired from Tests. Their absence left India with a fresh leadership group under Shubman Gill, who impressed both as captain and batsman, steering the side to a 2-2 who served as chief selector from 2006 to 2008, said Kohli's experience could have been crucial in the series. "If I were the Indian chief selector, I would have persuaded Virat to bid goodbye to Test cricket after playing the England series. We needed his class and experience in this series," Vengsarkar told The Times of India. Kohli's record in England has been mixed. After a disappointing debut tour in 2014, he returned in 2018 to score 655 runs as captain. However, he struggled during the 2021-22 visit, which included the World Test Championship final. In total, he has scored 1,096 runs in 17 Tests in England at an average of a month after his shock announcement, Kohli finally spoke about his decision to retire from Test cricket during a charity event for former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh's foundation, YouWeCan. Explaining his choice, he said: "I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days."Neither Kohli nor Rohit has played competitive cricket since the IPL 2025 season. With India not scheduled to play ODI cricket until the end of the year in Australia and South Africa, their extended absence has added to speculation about their international retired with 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, placing him fourth on India's all-time list behind Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. As captain, he led in 68 Tests, winning 40 - the most by any Indian skipper and the fourth-best in is expected to return to action in a three-match ODI series against Australia in October, followed by a home series against South Africa.- EndsYou May Also Like
