Thiruvananthapuram: Air India Express will be the title sponsor of the 60th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, which got underway on Friday with preliminary rounds being played at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
Air India Deputy Commercial Director Darius Chibber said that they will sponsor the event for the current year to begin with, and further sponsorship would be decided later.
The event would be called 'Air India Express Santosh Trophy' after the low-cost airliner signed the deal with Zee Sports and its marketing partner Nimbus Sports.
Zee Sports have a ten-year contract with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for marketing and telecasting soccer events in the country.
"The sponsorship coincides with the introduction of four weekly flights from Kozhikode to Sharjah and Mumbai. As football is the most popular sport in Kerala, which is the main destination of the Air India Express, we are happy to associate with the event," Chibber said.
Meanwhile the tournament got off to a rousing start when Delhi notched up a convincing 7-0 win over Himachal Pradesh in the inaugural match of the Santosh Trophy.
Though Delhi were dominant from the beginning, they managed only one goal in the first-half because of some good defending by Himachal.
The second half, however, witnessed revitalised Delhi strikers, supported by their mid-fielders, piercing the Himachal defence and pumping in six more goals.
Lalit Singh, who opened the score in the 10th minute of the first half, added three more goals in the second-half to become the top scorer.
Sumit (two) and substitute Ricky Chhakchhuak scored the other goals for the winners.
The Himachal team was left in total disarray and failed to score even once in the game.
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