Football: Indian Women win SAFF Championship title for the fifth straight time

A fifth consecutive title for India at the SAFF Women's Championship is certainly reason to celebrate for the Indian women's football team as they continue to assert their dominance in the tournament. The Indian women defeated hosts Nepal 3-1. With this, Team India are now unbeaten for 23 games in the tournament. Goals from Dalima Chhibber, Grace Dangmei and substitute Anju Tamang set the score for India. Dalima Chhiber opened the score of the game in the 26th minute through a well-placed and powerful free kick. The euphoria was short lived as Nepal equalised in the 34th minute with Sabrita scoring to level things. It was 1-1 at break. In the 63rd minute, Sanju's assist helped Grace put in a second goal with India leading 2-1 now. The final straw came from substitute Anju Tamang who came in in the middle of the second half and in the 78th minute of the match a third goal ensued with an assist from Indumathi Kathiresan. According to the official match report, India kept creating opportunities throughout the game and it was this constant pressure that kept up their momentum to result in the goals. Nepal may have looked threatening at points but the rock solid defense of goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan ensured that Nepal were only able to score the one goal. Anju was also a substitute in the semi finals vs Bangladesh and had put in an extraordinary effort at goal with 15mins left for the game back them. Scoring in the closing minutes of the game or at least the ability to push forward seems to be a speciality for her. The Indian team vs Nepal was as follows. India Starting XI: Aditi Chauhan (GK); Jabamani Tudu, Sweety Devi (Ranjana Chanu 90'), Ashalata Devi, Dalima Chhibber; Indumathi Kathiresan, Sangita Basfore, Ratanbala Devi; Sanju, Dangmei Grace, Sandhiya Ranganathan (Anju Tamang 64').