📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Mike Beauregard from Nunavut, Canada
Sports
Zinc Football Academy charts new path for Jharkhand’s Dangi Mardi’s India dream
✍️ The Statesman
🗓 10 Sep 2026, 09:39 PM
👁 13
The Zinc Football Academy has taken Jharkhand’s promising footballer Dangi Mardi under its wing, offering him structured training to revive his aspirations of representing India.
The Zinc Football Academy, a youth development centre based in India, has recently enrolled Jharkhand’s football talent Dangi Mardi. The academy’s coaches will work with the 18‑year‑old player, focusing on technical skills, tactical awareness and physical conditioning.
Mardi, who has been pursuing a place in the national team, will now have access to the academy’s training facilities, regular competitive matches and mentorship programmes. The structured environment is aimed at bridging the gap between regional talent and the demands of international football.
The move is seen as a significant step for Mardi’s ambition to wear the Indian jersey, and highlights the growing role of private academies in nurturing talent from less‑represented states such as Jharkhand.
Mardi, who has been pursuing a place in the national team, will now have access to the academy’s training facilities, regular competitive matches and mentorship programmes. The structured environment is aimed at bridging the gap between regional talent and the demands of international football.
The move is seen as a significant step for Mardi’s ambition to wear the Indian jersey, and highlights the growing role of private academies in nurturing talent from less‑represented states such as Jharkhand.