WOMEN’S FOOTBALL SET TO SCALE NEW HEIGHTS

In a country where baby boy is seen as a blessing and girl babies are grow to become dedicated wife and mother, women were not encouraged to take up sports unlike their men counterparts. The scenario was even worst in rural conservative areas where promising talents were nipped in the bud. Poverty and other challenges too came in the way of women and they could hardly cross the hurdles. And when Karnam Malleswari won India’s first Olympic medal – a Bronze in weightlifting in Sydney Olympics on September 19, 2000, it turned out to be a watershed moment for women’s sport in India. Since then, four more women have won Olympics medals – Mary Kom in boxing, Sakshi Malik in wrestling Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in Badminton. India’s sporting landscape started changing after the Sydney 2000 Olympics, in which women accounted for five of the 13 medals India won. It was all men medals before the 2000 Olympics. Indian women athletes became the country’s pride in the Rio 2016 Olympics with Badminton sensation PV Sindhu and Wrestling star Sakshi Malik won medals. But for the two women athletes, India would have returned empty handed for the first time since 1992. In all, 117 Indian athletes – 63 men and 54 women participated in the Rio Olympics across 15 sports. At the end, India returned home with just two medals – a Silver by PV Sindhu in the women’s singles and a Bronze by Sakshi Malik in women’s 58 kg Freestyle wrestling. The duo instantly became the inspiration for millions of young women in the country. The Rio Olympics saw the historic comeback of the Women's hockey squad after 36 years. India also made its debut in women’s artistic gymnastics , one of the sports considered unsuitable for women in the country along with boxing, wrestling and weightlifting. In India Girls were not encouraged enough to play football unlike cricket and hockey, which grew in stature and popularity. The Indian women’s hockey came out with a scintillating performance in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics narrowly missing a medal. The women’s cricket team too hogged the limelight after sterling performance in the 2017 World Cup One Day Internationals. In a closely fought finals, the team lost the cup to England in the finals. In the 2005 World Cup also the Indian team ended runners up after losing to Australia. The women’s football, however, lagged behind like their men’s team. Unlike the Men’s team, the women’s team, however, became eligible to take part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, AFC Asian Cup, SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championships and various Invitational, International and Friendly matches. Ranked 55 in the first update of the FIFA Women’s World Ranking in 2020, the team is the reigning championship in the South Asian region – winning all five editions of SAFF Women’s championships, the most recent of which was held in Biratnagar, Nepal, where the Indian side defeated the hosts 3-1 in 2019. The team also won Gold on three occasions at the South Asian Games. Seeking to achieve greater heights, the Women’s team left for Brazil on November 20 for a fournation International Tournament in Manaus, Brazil. The team will play against Brazil (November, 25), Chile (November, 28) and Venezuela (December, 1) as part of the preparation for the forthcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 “The opportunity will allow us to evaluate ourselves. This tour and everything we have been doing in the past two months is about the preparation for....