India, May 1 -- On Pamela Conti and Bibiano Fernandes lies the responsibility of making India look good among Asia's youngest competitive football cohort. The Asian under-17 finals for women and men will start within days of each other in Suzhou, China, and in Saudi Arabia. Under Conti, the women will go first followed by Fernandes's men.

Conti's team has reached China, the under-17 men are expected to fly to Jeddah from Doha on May 3. The women's team have been grouped with Australia, Japan and Lebanon; the men with Uzbekistan and Australia after North Korea withdrew. For the women, a 12-team competition, the top two from each group and two best third sides will qualify to the quarter-finals. For the men, where 16 countries have been sp...