Gold For Indian Women's Football Team At South Asian Games

Beating Nepal in the final match with a score of 4-0, the Indian women’s team grabbed the gold medal at the South Asian Games at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, on Monday. The winning team also took the opportunity to pay tribute to iconic player Oinam Bembem Devi, who played her last international match.

Kamala Devi started the goal-scoring spree for the hosts. While the 23-year-old attacking midfielder scored the first two goals of the game at 32^nd minute and 56^th minute, Bala Devi and Ashalata Devi followed it with one goal each at 71^st and 80^th minute respectively. Sasmita Malik, too, impressed the crowd as she was instrumental in many of the moves, one of them resulting in the Bala Devi’s goal.

The Nepalese team could not keep up with the pace of the Indian team and finished the game with a zip. Indian goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan was at ease as the Indian defense did not allow the attackers to score a goal.

Although Bembem Devi took quite a number of shots during the game, she could not score a goal. However, her inability to score a goal did not affect the game as India won the match. Bembem Devi was paid tribute for her two-decade spanning career in international football. It was under her captaincy that India won the gold medal at the 2010 and 2016 South Asian Games. She also led her team to victory at the 2012 South Asian Football Federation Women's Cup.

On the hindsight, although the Indian women won the gold after defeating Nepal, when it came to their male counterpart, the tables turned, as India lost to Nepal and won silver in the men’s football category.