Football
Jyoti Chauhan becomes first Indian to score hat-trick in European top division
Jyoti Chauhan, who plays in the top division of the Croatian women's league, scored thrice in Sunday's league match.
Jyoti Chauhan in action for Dinamo Zagreb
Even as Gokulam Kerala FC ran riot in the Indian Women's League (IWL) final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, their former player Jyoti Chauhan made history in Croatia.
The 23-year-old scored a hat-trick against ŽNK Agram in the final league game of the season in the Croatian Women's League. With this, she became the first Indian to score a hat-trick in European top-division football.
Jyoti scored in the 28th, 37th and 46th minutes of the match as Dinamo Zagreb won 4-1.
The former Gokulam footballer, who hails from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, became the first ever Indian footballer to score a goal in the Croatian Women's League in March this year, having scored for =Dinamo Zagreb in the 89th minute of the 4-0 win against Rijeka.
She has since then broken into the starting XI, and scored six goals before this match.
Along with Soumya Guguloth, Jyoti had been invited for trials by the Croatian club ahead of the 2022/23 season and signed for year-long contracts.
Hailing from Sardarpur village in Dhar of Madhya Pradesh, Jyoti lost her father when she was 12 years old and it is her mother, who works as an agricultural labourer, who has sustained her family.
