Anju Tamang and Soumya Guguloth scored a goal each as India defeated Hong Kong China 2-0 in their second outing of the Turkish Women’s Cup 2024 football tournament at the Gold City Sports Complex in Alanya, Turkey, on Saturday.
Courtesy the win, the Indian women’s football team, who beat Estonia 4-3 in its opening match, now have six points from their two games and will now play Kosovo in their final round-robin tie on Tuesday.
Kosovo also have six points from two matches, making Tuesday’s tie a virtual final. India, however, cannot afford to draw the match as they are behind Kosovo on goal difference.
The senior Indian women’s national football team has won the SAFF Cup five times and the SAF Games gold medal thrice. However, India never won an international title outside the South Asian circuit before.
The Indian team, 65th in the FIFA rankings, made a good start to the game, creating early inroads into the Hong Kong China half.
Indumathi Kathiresan, Anju Tamang, and Pyari Xaxa, all had a crack each at the rival goal within the first five minutes. While Indumathi’s shot was blocked and Anju sent her effort wide, Pyari’s free header from point-blank range went straight into goalkeeper Cheuk Wai Ng’s hands.
However, India’s high press eventually broke Hong Kong China’s defence in the 19th minute as Manisha Kalyan snatched the ball from rival captain Ching Yee Sin before she played it to Anju, who rounded the opposition keeper before slotting the ball into an empty goal from a narrow angle.
Manisha had a great opportunity to double India’s lead just a minute before the half-time whistle but her left-footed effort crashed into the woodwork.
India came off the blocks swiftly in the second half and kept world No. 78 Hong Kong restricted to their own half.
Goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu created India’s second goal in the 79th minute from a free kick. She hit a long one upfield to Pyari, who headed it into the path of an onrushing Soumya, who ran past the keeper and slipped it into the goal.
India then saw off a late charge by Hong Kong to see off the 2-0 win.
