As per the fixture, Nepal and Bhutan will meet in the opening match scheduled for August 20, while Maldives locks horns against Afghanistan on the following day. All the group matches will start at 15:30 NST. However, the venue is yet to be finalized.In the draw, Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Nepal were highest seeded teams, respectively, on the basis of latest AFC U-19 rankings, while Afghanistan and Bhutan were the lowest ranked teams.
Host Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Maldives were placed in bowl 1 and the remaining two teams, Bhutan and Afghanistan, were placed in bowl 2.
Former national team skipper Hari Khadka picked the A3 and B3 teams from bowl 2. Similarly, another former national team captain Raju Kaji Shakya picked the teams A2, B2, A1 and B1 from bowl 1.
According to ANFA CEO Indra Man Tuladhar, the matches were likely to be held at the artificial turf of the ANFA at Satdobato and the natural turf of Army Physical Fitness and Training Centre, Lagankhel.
"If the under construction parapet of ANFA ground is completed before the tournament beings the matches will be played at both venues, otherwise, the matches will be played at the Army ground," Tuladhar said, adding that the construction works of dressing room and parapet was yet to be completed.
Coaches Bal Gopal Maharjan, Sunil Shrestha and Mrigendra Mishra are training the youth teams for the tournament. All three of them were the coach of Nepal's U-16 team that played the AFC U-16 finals last year in Thailand. Mos of the players in the current U-19 squad come from U-16 squad.
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