In a tough draw, India were on Thursday clubbed with heavyweights such as Korea Republic, Australia and Uzbekistan in Group C for this year’s AFC U-16 Championships.

The official draw for the tournament – scheduled from September 16 to October 3 in Bahrain – was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The four semi-finalists of the competition will earn a direct qualification to Fifa U-17 World Cup Peru 2021.

India qualified for the U-16 finals when they finished as Group B champions in Tashkent from a pool which had Uzbekistan (hosts), Bahrain and Turkmenistan.

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The Indian team finished with seven points from three matches scoring 11 goals, while conceding once. This is India’s third consecutive qualification in the AFC U-16 finals, and ninth overall.

India U-16 head coach Bibiano Fernandes said that his team are looking forward to the challenge.

“I don’t like to pre-empt any expectations prior to the start of the competition. At this level all the teams are tough to play against. We as a team have improved over the years. I’m sure that the boys – much like myself, are looking forward to it,” he said.

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The Indian boys had faced Uzbekistan in Tashkent in the qualifiers in 2019 where it had ended 1-1.

“When we last played Uzbekistan in Uzbekistan, we discovered that they were such a composed side. There’s a long gap between the qualifiers and the U-16 finals and it’s understandable that they have had ample time and opportunity to improve as a team. But we are ready for the challenge,” Fernandes maintained.

In the last edition in 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, the U-16 team stayed a win away from a direct qualification into the Fifa U-17 World Cup when they lost to Korea Republic by a solitary goal in the quarter-finals.

That was India’s second entry into the quarterfinals, the earlier being in 2002.