The Hindu : Sport / Football : Indian Under-17 women's team

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

Indian Under-17 women's team

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 11. Height... well that could only be the decisive factor as the India Under-17 girls team gears up for the inaugural AFC Under 17 women's championship to be played at Nam Hae in South Korea, starting on April 17. The final is slated for April 27.

The India team under the watchful eyes of chief coach M. Ratan Kumar of Manipur has been going through the drills since January 14 at the SAI South Centre here. The past few days, as in a week last month, were spent in practice matches with local boys' team. The team even did undergo a short trip to Goa for practice matches.Trainer and physio Pradeep Kumar Dutta sounded very optimistic about the staying prowess of the girls, with an average age of 16. "They have taken the load very well and showed no flagging throughout ... they will not slacken during the match", he said.

Also sounding very positive was manager Renuka Lakshmi of Southern Railway, Chennai. "There is good camaraderie and oneness amongst the girls. And as far as fitness and skill goes there should not be any cause for concern. Yes, the lack of inches could make some difference... but then through skill and intelligence that could be overcome," felt Ms. Renuka.

Eleven teams are in the fray and India is clubbed alongside host Korea, Thailand and Indonesia in Group A. India takes on Thailand in the opening day's action on April 16 at 4 p.m. (Korean time). The matches will be played at the Sports Park and the Public stadium. The Indian team is to be captained by goalkeeper Thabal Devi of Manipur and the North Eastern state boasts of eight players in the final 20. The team leaves Bangalore for Busan via Mumbai and Tokyo on April 13.

The groupings: Group A: South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, India. Group B: Hong Kong, Japan, Bangladesh, Guam. Group C: China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore.

The team: Goalkeepers: W. Thabal Devi, Ahalaya Munda and Neelam Khalko. Defenders: Th. Ranjita Devi, A. Romi Devi, Goon Tuli, Alochona Senapati, Gulti Choudhary, Manpreet Kaur Sidhu and Suprana Sasmal. Midfielders: Bembem Devi, Sanathoi Chanu, Lalvarmoi, Sasmita Malik, Manpreet Kaur, Raju Suganya. Forwards: Ng. Bala Devi, Sapana Guria, Roma Devi, Sangita Patra. Chief coach: Ratan Kumar. Asst. coach: Ms Kuntala Ghosh. Goalkeeping coach: Chitra Gangadharan. Manager: Renuka Lakshmi. Doctor: Dr. Sarla (SAI).