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United News of India
8 hours ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Priyadharshini Selladurai: From paddy fields of Thiruvarur to international football
Chiang Mai, Thailand June 28 (UNI) 'Raw talent' is how coach Crispin Chettri defines Priyadharshini Selladurai, the Indian women's national team's newest goalscorer. Priyadharshini scored two goals for 'Team India' in their 13-0 win over Mongolia on June 23, 2025, these were her first two goals in internatoinal football. As a loose ball landed right in front of her feet just inside the box, the 22-year-old midfielder's eyes lit up. She took a careful touch with her side-foot and laced it into the bottom corner to score India's 11th against Mongolia, but her first ever for the country. Priyadharshini added another goal later, as she tapped in Pyari Xaxa's cutback to take India's tally to 13, marking the Blue Tigresses' biggest win in AFC competitions. Two goals in three matches for the country, yet she hasn't yet made a first XI appearance in the Indian Women's League. That's not a statement you hear every day. But her hard work in training and performances in games have made Chettri fully agree with his decision to give her a first national team call-up. "Priyadharshini is one of our raw talents. I say that because she hasn't gotten many minutes in the IWL. But we still believed in her talent and gave her the opportunity to be part of our national team camp. And she's doing well here. However, playing in the IWL will help her a lot to mature as a player. I think we will have a very good number 10 in her, in the future," said Chettri. Priyadharshini has been part of Chettri's squad since he first took charge ahead of the Pink Ladies Cup in February. However, she made her debut in May, in the first friendly against Uzbekistan in Bengaluru. And just 24 days later came the first goal. "For a long time, I had been wondering if I would ever get selected for the Indian team. Now that I've been selected and scored a goal, I'm truly happy. I can't even express how I felt inside. I don't have the words to describe it. It was like a dream come true to score for the country," Priyadharshini shared. The dream grew gradually. From playing in the paddy fields of her small village of Savalakkaran in the Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu, to scoring goals for India in Chiang Mai, also a city known for paddy production, the journey, as is the case with most female footballers in India, wasn't easy. "I started playing football when I was in sixth class. I saw my seniors playing in the school, and decided to join them. I was selected for the Tamil Nadu team for the National School Games in Manipur in 2016, which was the first time I played outside my state," said the midfielder. That became the turning point in her life. Football could be taken seriously. She liked it, and she was getting good at it. But it took time for her parents to approve of her new passion. "I come from a place where girls aren't encouraged to pursue sports. This was like breaking a barrier for me." But Priyadharshini had the support of her school's physical education teacher, V Muthukumar, who actively went from door to door and convinced the parents of the village to allow their girls to play football. "We didn't have a proper football ground, so we played on paddy fields. My coach helped us a lot. He arranged the playing equipment and even gave me my first pair of football boots. Even today, when I go back, I train in the same paddy field," she said. What earned Priyadharshini her place in the national team were impressive performances for Tamil Nadu in the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy for the Senior Women's National Football Championship and the National Games. Before her international cap, the biggest highlight of her career remained the goal in the 2023 Senior Women's NFC final in Punjab, which won Tamil Nadu only their second-ever title. Playing alongside her idol Indumathi Kathiresan, she went on to represent her state in the 2024 and 2025 Rajmata Jijabai Trophy and the National Games in Gujarat 2024 and Uttarakhand 2025. At the club level, she signed for Gokulam Kerala FC in 2023-24 and made five appearances off the bench in the IWL that season. But Priyadharshini took the Kerala Women's League by storm, scoring 24 goals in the Malabarians' title win and ending up as the league's top scorer. Success with Tamil Nadu earned her a job as a block health officer at the government hospital in Alangudi, a town situated half an hour from her home. "As I was appointed under the sports quota, I get paid leave when I'm on national duty, like right now. For people back home, it's a matter of pride that I've become the first one to play for India from my village," said Priyadharshini. India will play Timor Leste (June 29 at 14:30 IST), Iraq (July 2 at 14:30 IST), and Thailand (July 5 at 18:00 IST) in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers. All matches will be streamed live on Changsuek YouTube Channel and Thai Women's Football Facebook Page. UNI RKM
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Thailand are beatable, we can go to Australia: Crispin Chhetri
Kolkata: The thing about FIFA rankings is that they can conceal as much as they reveal. At 46, Thailand top the 2026 AFC Asian Women's Cup qualifiers but it is Timor-Leste, Mongolia and Iraq that worry Crispin Chhetri just as much. Because the India head coach said he has 'zero idea' about them. India women's football team head coach Crispin Chhetri. (AIFF) Explains why Chhetri said that rankings can be tricky, referencing India's losses to Bangladesh and Nepal in the 2024 SAFF Championship to embellish the point. At 70, India are ranked second in the group from which only the winners will go to the finals in Australia next March. India haven't qualified on merit since 2003, Thailand played the 2019 World Cup but Chhetri, who turned 50 on Friday, is not ruling out an upset. 'I think if the players believe in themselves, Thailand are beatable,' said Chhetri. 'Right now, we have started thinking that we could go to Australia.' The comment fits into the positive attitude Chhetri is trying to inculcate. 'I try to instill not to fear losing. Because the day you stop fearing losses is when you will be successful.' India open against Mongolia on Monday, play Iraq on June 29, Timor-Leste on July 2 and Thailand on July 5. All matches will be at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chhetri speaks softly but not without steel, especially when he makes the point about India qualifying for the finals. He will need all of it and then some if India are to meet his target of making the 48-team 2031 World Cup. 'I think we have a realistic chance,' he said, in a virtual call on Saturday. The squad is being built with 2031 in mind, Chhetri said, explaining the omission of goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan and defenders Ashalata Devi and Dalima Chhibber. Together, they have a combined experience of 212 internationals. All three played in the 2024-25 Indian Women's League (IWL) won comprehensively by East Bengal. 'It is not about form,' said Chhetri. But they are no longer automatic starters, he said. 'Why should I block the place of a junior player? We are looking to build a core that will serve India for the next 10 years.' The squad in Chiang Mai has 'senior players but at the same time, younger players who are hungry. So, there is both drive and control.' Soumya Guguloth scored nine goals in IWL, the most by an Indian, and in Manisha Kalyan India have a forward who plays for PAOK in Greece. Kalyan, 23, joined the preparatory camp straight after the European season. Manisha is mentally very strong which explains why she has been able to stay in Europe for three seasons while others have not lasted more than one, said Chhetri. India trained in Bengaluru for nearly 40 days, played two friendlies (both 0-1 defeats to Uzbekistan) and will have been in Thailand one week before their opener. The one thing he would have liked was an exposure tour ahead of the qualifiers but Chhetri said he gave players a fortnight off because they needed a break after IWL. That, and avoiding injuries. Defender Astam Oraon, India captain in the under-17 World Cup, has just returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and along with forwards Sandhiya Ranganathan, Renu and Karishma Shirvoikar are unavailable on fitness grounds. Ranganathan will be missed, said Chhetri. Like Manolo Marquez with the senior men's team, Chhetri has been juggling responsibilities for Odisha FC and India. As per his contracts with the club and All India Football Federation, it will be that way till February 2026. Odisha FC, champions under Chhetri in 2023-24, being relegated this time – injuries hurt us and we paid for not planning for a strong bench, he said – also means the qualifiers are an opportunity to salvage his reputation.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
In a league of her own: Sujata storms century-old CFL's male bastion
1 2 3 4 Kolkata: It was a late January afternoon and Sujata Kar was busy doing her household chores when her cellphone buzzed with an urgent summons to meet Southern Samity's general secretary Sourav Pal. Being head coach of the south Kolkata club's football academy, the former Blue Tigresses forward and recipient of the AIFF women's coach of the year award would often exchange phone calls with her present-day employer. But it was a different call which a few hours later would ring in a significant change in her life and sow the seed of a major glass-ceiling act in Indian football. Sourav welcomed Sujata at the club's Rabindra Sarovar Stadium office with a historic proposal — bossing the dugout of the club's senior men's football team in the Calcutta Football League 's top division. "It came as a pleasant surprise," Sujata told TOI on Wednesday. "It was an opportunity too good to be true; it was a challenge so huge that I couldn't simply afford to let go. Through this challenge I could also judge my quality and acceptance among my players," she maintained. The 2025-2026 season of the CFL Premier Division is set to kick-start on June 25. As Southern Samity prepare to face Sreebhumi FC in their first match — the date of which is yet to be announced — Sujata relishes the occasion of becoming the first-ever female coach to be managing a men's senior team in the league's 127-year-old history. "All other coaches (of the participating teams) in the league are better than me and I'll try to learn from them. How they handle a pressure situation, how they control the players and instruct them in different phases of the game. I always think that my potential as a coach could and should be judged against the best in the business. This is going to be quite a demanding examination and I'm ready for it," Sujata noted. Sujata would find in Southern Samity a club which may not be a regular in the championship race but an entity which never fights shy of experimenting. When the club earned its promotion to the top echelon of the local league in 2010, it gave legendary IM Vijayan his first brush with coaching. Sourav provided an insight into what prompted his club to break the glass ceiling with the appointment of Sujata. "Having seen a man (Anthony Andrews) guiding Gokulam Kerala FC women's team to back-to-back (IWL) titles, Sujata's name crossed our mind when we were discussing about appointing a new coach for the men team. If a man can coach a women's team, why can't a woman manage a men's team? Moreover, we have seen Sujata over four years serving this club in various capacities and we have no doubt about her credentials as a coach," Sourav pointed out. The Southern official also drew a line of comparison between the team's debut season in the CFL Premier Division and the current one. "When we hired Vijayan, there was large-scale euphoria and we were determined to do well in the debut season. Unfortunately, we didn't have luck by our side in some matches and we had to part company with a legend like Vijayan in the middle of the season. "However, this time around, we have built the team with a bunch of very young but promising players, picked from various parts of north Bengal. This team needs special care — I would say a mother-like care — for development and Sujata is a perfect fit for the job," Sourav quipped. Long before the likes of Bala Devi and Jyoti Chouhan setting a trend for India women players signing professional contracts with foreign clubs, Sujata was offered a chance to play in Germany, but the deal eventually didn't see light. Her plunge into coaching — following a 25-match stint with the women's senior national team — was inspired by former football administrator Debu Mukherjee in 2013. And her recent credentials as a coach have seen her guide East Bengal FC and Sreebhumi FC to Calcutta Women's League (Kanyashree Cup) titles. Will it be different to manage a men's team now? "No," Sujata said with an emphatic note. "It's like solving a mathematical problem. The formula remains the same whether a man or a woman attempts to solve it," Sujata, standing on the threshold of history, signed off.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NCLT Merger Approval: NCLT approves merger of Inox Wind Energy & Inox Wind, ET LegalWorld
The Chandigarh bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the merger of Inox Wind Energy Ltd and Inox Wind Ltd, a decision that will streamline the wind business vertical of the INOXGFL Group and improve overall operational efficiencies. Following the NCLT order on Tuesday, Inox Wind Energy Ltd will be amalgamated into Inox Wind Ltd (IWL), INOXGFL Group said in a statement on Wednesday. The merger simplifies and streamlines the wind business vertical of the INOXGFL Group, improving overall operational efficiencies, it said. The merger, or the "scheme of arrangement", will also reduce IWL's liabilities by Rs 2,050 crore, strengthening its balance sheet. Advt The overall consolidation of businesses, financial, operational and other synergies may result in enhancing value for various stakeholders of the a result of this merger, 632 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each of IWL will be allotted for every 10 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each of IWEL as on the record date, which will be determined shortly, as per the Group promoters will now have direct holding in Inox shares are expected to be credited to shareholders of IWEL within 1-1.5 months, subject to regulatory processes and Group Executive Director Devansh Jain said, "The merger is a significant achievement in the exciting journey of the INOXGFL Group, and brings closure to the last two years of efforts which our team had invested in this process."The merger is beneficial for all stakeholders, including the minority shareholders of IWEL, as well as for IWL, since it results in a leaner and more robust balance sheet for the company, he company said combining the operations of both companies achieves cost savings through economies of scale, improved resource utilisation, elimination of redundant functions and operations, and streamlining of regulatory compliances. Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETLegalWorld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NCLT approves IWEL-IWL merger; Inox Wind to reduce liabilities by ₹2,050 crore
New Delhi: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chandigarh Bench has approved the merger of Inox Wind Energy Ltd (IWEL) with Inox Wind Ltd (IWL), a move that will reduce IWL's liabilities by approximately ₹2,050 crore, according to a company statement on Wednesday. The tribunal passed the order on June 10, paving the way for the consolidation of the INOXGFL Group's wind energy business. Following the merger, IWEL shareholders will receive 632 equity shares of ₹10 each in IWL for every 10 shares held in IWEL, as per the approved scheme. The merged entity is expected to operate under a leaner capital structure. As a result of the merger, liabilities in IWL's books will reduce by ₹2,050 crore, according to the group. Devansh Jain, Executive Director, INOXGFL Group, said: 'This merger is a significant achievement in the exciting journey of the INOXGFL Group, and brings closure to the last two years of efforts which our team had invested in this process.' He added that the merger will be beneficial to all stakeholders, including minority shareholders of IWEL. The promoter holding structure will also be simplified post-merger, with promoters holding direct equity in IWL. The merged entity is expected to benefit from operational synergies and streamlined resources. The INOXGFL Group comprises four listed entities—Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd, Inox Wind Ltd, Inox Green Energy Services Ltd, and Inox Wind Energy Ltd—with a combined market capitalisation of around USD 11 billion. The group is engaged in businesses across fluoropolymers, fluorochemicals, battery chemicals, and renewable energy. The share swap is subject to regulatory procedures and clearances, and the shares are expected to be credited to IWEL shareholders in 1 to 1.5 months, the group said.
