Amritsar (Punjab), (Asian independent) A battle of nerves awaits when the midfield strength of Tamil Nadu comes up against a young Haryana side in the final of the Hero Senior Women’s National Football Championship at the Guru Nanak Stadium here on Wednesday.
It will also be a clash between former champions Tamil Nadu, the most consistent side of the tournament, and Haryana, the luckiest.
The Senior Women’s NFC has, thus far, been dominated by Manipur, who have won 21 of the 26 championships. The 2022-23 edition, however, has thrown a few surprises, with Manipur being knocked out in the group stage of the Final Round, where they finished third in Group B, behind Haryana and Railways. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu have also proved to be a tough unit, having topped Group A and beaten one of the top sides, Railways, in the semifinal.
Tamil Nadu have arguably been the most consistent side in the championship, having a perfect record of nine victories from nine matches so far. They had topped Group V in the preliminary stages to make it to the Final Round, where they again topped Group A, scoring 32 goals and conceding none in the process.
The only goal they conceded so far in this campaign, came against tournament favourites Railways, scored by substitute Diparnita Dey in the third minute of injury time.
The 2017-18 champions are able to dominate their opponents through a much superior midfield consisting of captain Indumathi Kathiresan and Karthika Angamuthu. The duo are regulars in the senior women’s national team and have proved their supremacy over their opponents in the middle of the park, distributing the ball all over the pitch, and stretching the opposing backline.
Indumathi Kathiresan has been especially brilliant from midfield, frequently going forward to create goalscoring opportunities, most of which, have been put away by the 29-year-old has put away herself; she is currently the highest scorer of the final round, having found the net eight times.
Another player who has helped Indumathi in her goalscoring rampage in the championship is Sandhiya Ranganathan, who is not a conventional centre forward. The 25-year-old, who mostly plays on the wings for the National Team, has been operating in the tricky role of a false nine, often dropping back to drag or wide to drag opposition defenders along with her, allowing more space for Indumathi in the process.
In Amritsar, Haryana have produced some fine performances, the most notable of which has been a 2-0 victory against defending champions Manipur. They have scored 24 goals in nine matches, conceding only three in the process.
The secret to Haryana’s success does not lie in any one individual, rather it depends more on the team performing in symphony as one unit. They have a number of youngsters like Santosh, Neha and Shailja, who put in the extra yards on the pitch. However, the main reason for their success has been a stable backbone, consisting of goalkeeper Shreya Hooda, centreback Ritu Rani, midfielder Samiksha, and centre-forward Renu Rani.
This quartet is supremely experienced, having played women’s football at all domestic levels, and have also played in the Senior Women’s National Team. Captain Ritu Rani has been a rock at the heart of the Haryana defence, and has also shown the propensity to score goals from set-pieces as well. She has netted three goals in the Final Rounds, one of which, came in the semi-final against Odisha, which Haryana eventually won on penalties.
Goalkeeper Shreya Hooda has been on the fringes of the senior women’s national team for a few years but has come to her own this season. After a goodly performance in the Indian Women’s League, where she helped her side Odisha FC reach the quarter-finals.
With India’s first-choice goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan injured, the responsibility of prowling the goal-line fell upon Hooda in the AFC Olympic Qualifiers, where she did not concede a single goal, thus helping the Blue Tigresses finish top of Group G.
The 24-year-old was at her best in the semifinal against Odisha, where she made two saves in the penalty shootout to help her side progress to the summit clash.
