Defending champions Modern Heros begin their title defence against DPS Falcons in an intriguing match as the Sport360 Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) National School League returns on Saturday.

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It is the stand out tie of the three group fixtures in the Under-13 category as last season’s champions and semi-finalists go head to head at 7he Sevens Stadium in Dubai.

Heros’, formerly known as GEMS Modern Academy, are one of 48 teams entered in this season’s tournament, and team manager Mohammad Salim admits their title will be even tougher to defend because every school will want to beat them.

“We are very much looking forward to playing but it’s going to be tough on the players,” he said. “We will enter the tournament as champions but every team will want to beat us and we have to be on top of our game every time we go on the pitch.”

He will be overseeing a team of new faces as last season’s players will now play in the Under-15 event. He insists it is for that reason there will be no pressure on the team.

“There’s absolutely no pressure,” he said. “The squad is formed of new boys and we will take it game by game and see where it takes us because we only started training three weeks ago because of the climate.”

Ronak Panoly and Varun Ravi will be among the players to line up for Modern Heros on Saturday, and Salim expects his players to be tested.

“It’s a really difficult game to open the tournament. But in any tournament there is no easy game and this is no different,” he said. “DPS Falcons were very good last year so it will be a big challenge for us.”

Falcons’ coach Prosanta Chanda says he is not underestimating the champions.

“Our preparations have gone well and we have worked on our bowling, fielding and batting so I’m satisfied so far. We we have some new players so it will be exciting to see how they do and hopefully we can win as this can be the start of a big tournament for us,” he said.

“We expect a tough match because they are the champions and will having something to prove. But I’ve been impressed with my players in training and am confident they can put on a good show.”

Other teams who open their campaign are Winchester Cobras, who take on DESC Diamonds, while Repton Royals meet JSS Blitz.