Chennai
Rising Student Club (Odisha), Capital Complex Sporting Club (Arunachal Pradesh), Indira Gandhi ASE (Pondicherry) and J&K State Sports Council are the other four outfits in the six-team Group A all-play-all league.
Group B comprises seven teams. Only the toppers from each Group will advance to the main event.
The Madurai-based outfit comprises primarily of school and college girls from Tamil Nadu, with only a handful of outstation professionals roped in to strengthen the side, to lend it some steel as well as some experience. “Our strength as a team is that our girls have inborn talent and they don’t give up,” said coach Kalpana Dass.
She holds an AFC ‘A’ license in coaching and has previously worked with several top women’s teams across the country including Pune FC. “Most teams have invested big money and roped in leading national players who have been playing all through the year. Our biggest strength is our unity and the ability to play to a plan and take every challenge to the finish,” she added.
The squad: N Sowmiya, S Rumpa Malik, P Juki, M Varalakshmi, N Poli Koley, Rutuja R Gunwant , Anline Fernandes, Laura Estibeiro, S Muthuselvi, A Karthika, Alam, B Puja Karmakar, Anagha Janakkiraman,M Nandhini, S Abarna, R Sumitra, Velanie Fernandes Manisha.
Coach: Kalpana Dass.
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