The Indian women’s football team suffered a heart-breaking 1-2 loss to Chinese Taipei in their opening game in Group B at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Thursday (September 21).
Anju Tamang (47’) opened the scoring for India but goals from Li-Chin Lai (69‘) and Yu-Hsuan Su (84’) secured all three points for Chinese Taipei and took them to the top of the Group B standings.
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The Thomas Dennerby-managed Indian team, playing its first match since March, got off the blocks quickly as Manisha Kalyan almost created a goal-scoring opportunity for the returning Bala Devi in the first minute.
Though world No 38 Chinese Taipei enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession, India, 61st in the FIFA rankings, defended with purpose and created their fair share of chances, courtesy Anju Tamang and Manisha Kalyan’s pacy runs down the flanks.
Though India pressed on for an equaliser in the final exchanges, Chinese Taipei held fort to complete a comeback win.
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The Indian women’s football team will be next in action against Thailand on Sunday at the Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium.
The five group winners will advance to the Asian Games 2023 women’s football quarter-finals.
The three best runners-up from Groups A, B, D and E will take the remaining quarters spots. (AIFF)