Lucky Kumari netted a late winner as Bihar junior girls did a remarkable job to knock five-time champions and high-flying Manipur out of the quarterfinals of U-17 Women’s National Football Championship in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Locking horns on the back of their all-win group league records, both teams were upbeat about their chances to progress to the last-four stage of the tournament. But the gritty Bihar girls got the better of their much-fancied opponents in the first quarterfinal of the 2022-23 edition at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium (IGAS) in the morning match as they rallied to defeat the most decorated side in this category 3-2.
In the other quarterfinal of the day, Arunachal Pradesh edged Chhattisgarh 1-0 at the same venue to book a semifinal berth. Tallo Ana netted the all-important winner in the 35th minute of the afternoon match.
Earlier, Bihar and Manipur girls showcased an evenly fought game. Manipur took an early lead through Oinam Babita Devi in the 15th minute but their joy was short-lived as Bihar’s Shruti Kumari equalized ten minutes later. Both teams went into the breather with the scoreline locked at 1-1 but two minutes into the second half, Thingbaijam Sanjita Devi wrested back the lead for Manipur girls.
With Manipur 2-1 ahead, Bihar girls upped the ante, but their attacks were thwarted in the opposition area. The search for another equalizer continued until 66th minute of the match when Bihar were rewarded for their persistence with player of the match Shabara Khatun drawing parity for them.
With about half an hour left in the match both teams fought hard in search of the winner and it was Lucky of Bihar who netted three minutes from regulation time to the jubilation of her teammates and coaching staff who came out victorious. The super strike also catapulted Lucky to the top of scoring chart with 12 goals, jointly with Kerala girl Shilji Shaji.
In the quarterfinals on Thursday, former champions Bengal will take on Haryana at IGAS in the morning game while Kerala will take on Dadra and Nagar Haveli in the afternoon match for a place in the semifinals.
