Holcim FA Cup 2011 off to a fine start

Bernard PERERA

The 2011 Holcim FA Cup soccer championship the most prestigious tourney commenced on Monday with the qualifying round and this ended on the following day. A total of 35 matches were to be completed during these two days before the commencement of round two where they will confront with other qualifiers.

This tournament organized by Football Federation of Sri Lanka has recorded a good response this year and a total of 115 teams have entered the fray. The organizers have to conduct 114 matches inclusive of semi finals and the final according to FFSL sources. Colombo City Football League has the highest number of participants fielding 10 teams.

After a long lapse teams from North and East too have made their entry in to the tournament in a big way.

Saunder SC, Renown SC and Ratnam SC have won the FA Cup on five occasions while York SC (CSF).

The round two will see the participation of some of the leading Clubs in the country. During this stage there will be 31 matches to be played in different parts of the country. This stage will see its closure on April 11 and the round two begins on April 23.

The third and fourth rounds are scheduled for the early part of May. The fourth stage and the final round before the pre-quarter finals begin on June 4 and June 11. The quarter finals are fixed for June 18 and the dates for the semi finals and the final will be notified later.