Shillong, Mar 10: Lawmali will be gunning for their third consecutive Assam Rifles Invitational Cup 2021 crown when they face old foes Assam Rifles in the final on 12th March.
Yesterday Lawmali came through their semifinal as 2-0 victors over Six United, while Assam Rifles edged Mawkhar 5-4 in a penalty shootout. The tournament is being held at the Assam Rifles headquarters in Laitkor.
In contrast to the knockout format of previous years, this edition of the tournament, which began on 26th February, was held in a round-robin format. Assam Rifles and Lawmali have already thus met once before, with the jawans winning 2-1.
Lawmali won last year’s AR Cup with a 5-0 victory in the final over Umphrup and, in 2019, came from behind to defeat Assam Rifles 2-1 in the title match.
The road to the 2021 final has seen Lawmali defeat Nongthymmai 1-0, Lawsohtun 3-1, Mawpat 12-1 and Umphrup 5-1, with the only defeat coming to Assam Rifles on the opening day. The jawans, meanwhile, had also defeated Mawpat 5-0, Nongthymmai 6-0 and Umphrup 3-0.
(Photo: Assam Rifles/Facebook)