A better goal difference (+11) in comparison to Bangladesh helped India U-18 girls emerge champions on the concluding day of the SAFF U-18 Women’s Championship 2022 at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Friday evening.
The valuable player of the tournament and the highest goal scorer was India's Lynda Kom who scored 5 goals in total.
However, Bangladesh scraped past India by a solitary goal. India, however, had seized the initiative early as in the 5th minute when Shubhangi managed to find some space in the opposition box and went for a shot which went directly to Bangladesh custodian Rupna.
Hosts India was unlucky to be denied by the post in the 40th minute when Nitu, all in the clear, placed it past Rupna only to see the ball bouncing off the post, and straight into Rupna’s hands -- as both teams headed to the interval locked goalless.
Changing over, head coach Thomas Dennerby brought in Poonam in place of Shubhangi in the 46th minute.
In the 60th minute, Indian captain Shilky Devi went for a long-range shot but an agile Rupna was not to be beaten. A couple of substitutions followed as Martina and Sunita were replaced by Naketa, and Amisha respectively.
With time running out for Bangladesh, they went all out in the attack, and Aklima put them into the lead in the 74th minute with a shot from outside the box.
India tried hard to score the equalizer but Bangladesh defended well enough to deny it. The SAFF Under-18 Championship was organized in the steel city for the first time
Around 5,000 spectators watched the proceedings. The India under-17 girls, who are camping in the steel city, came to support their seniors. Adequate police protection was in place at the venue during the tournament.
Jharkhand sports director Zeeshan Qamar handed over the trophy and certificates to the Indian team in presence of All India Football Federation general secretary Kushal Das, Tata Steel sports wing chief Farzan Heerjee, Jamshedpur FC CEO Mukul Choudhari and Jharkhand Football Association secretary Ghulam Rabbani.
