Manipur win Nat. women's football

Manipur retained the National women's football title after scoring an emphatic 2-0 victory over Bengal in the final in Chennai on Tuesday.

Manipur scored once in each half through Manithombi Devi and A Sakhitombi Devi.

In the 11-year history of the championship, Manipur have now won the title nine times, appearing in all previous finals.

Bengal have won the title twice.

Today's win caps Manipur's fine run in the national football championship. The state had won the Santosh Trophy and the men's junior national championship early last year.

Manipur, who scored a 3-0 victory over Bihar in the semi-finals, took the field without its star striker, 14-year-old Bala Devi, who had to sit out after having received two yellow cards. However, Bala Devi's absence was not felt and, as predicted by coach Ekendra Singh, the team played to a plan, their fast paced game proving too much for Bengal.

The fact that the Bengal forwards had just one shot at the Manipur goal speaks volumes about the authoritative display of the title winners.

Sakthithombi Devi, who took Bala Devi's position, proved herself well in the attack and the manner in which she was able to get out of the shackles of Jayanti Barui for ball possessions was immaculate. In fact, she played as pivot and was instrumental in her side taking the lead.

From the beginning, Manipur's link women, Lokeshori Devi and Dhanapati Chanu, were in control and it came as no urprise when they went ahead in the fourth minute itself.

Receiving a long pass from Lokeshori, Sakthitombi sped down the left. Defenders Enakshi Biswas and Jayanti came in front of her but Sakthitombi dodged past these defenders and shot close to the goal mouth where Manitombi excelled with a chip to relay the ball into the netting.

Meanwhile, Bengal's two counter moves were thwarted by the able Surmala Chanu and Promila Chanu.

Manipur did not ease the pace for another 15 minutes. In the 32nd minute, Sakthitombi's cross went abbeging as Phajabi Devi and Manitombi had advanced too far.

In the 50th minute, the Bengal goal fell for the second time following a defence lapse but Sakthitombi should be praised for her opportunism.

Manithombi's lob from the left was taken by substitute Thoi Devi, who passed it on to Sakthitombi to slot home.

Bengal, who had scraped past Kerala by a solitary goal in the semi-finals, missed an easy scoring chance three minutes later. A fine cross from Rinku Ghosh found Papiya Ghosh in a one-on-one situation, with the Manipur goalkeeper, Binashori Devi. But Papiya was late in reacting and was dispossessed.

Bengal tried hard to reduce the margin and tried long range shots as they could not break Manipur's strong defence. They almost scored in the 60th minute but Sefali Choudhury was found wanting and lost the ball to Sakthitombi.

With time ticking by, Bengal's efforts to make a match of the final did not yield any results. On the other hand, Manipur's Thoi Devi was dismayed as her powerful right footer from about 20 yards hit the crosspiece with just a minute to go for the long whistle.

Later, Tamil Nadu Sports Minister, Inbatamilan, who witnessed the entire match, presented the trophies which were borrowed by the tournament organisers, the Tamil Nadu Football Association.

This was done as the All India Football Federation had not instituted trophies for the women's National championship.