Placed in a competitive Group F, the India U-17 women's team is hoping to put up a fine show in the Asian Football Federation (AFC) U-17 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Indian team, which is hoping to qualify for the second stage in the qualifying programme, arrived in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, to take part in the Qualifiers Round 1. India are placed in Group F alongside hosts Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar.
The Young Tigresses will take on the Kyrgyz Republic in their opening game on Wednesday (April 26) before facing Myanmar on Friday (April 28). Both matches will kick off at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium and will be streamed live on the Kyrgyz Sport TV YouTube Channel.
In the pre-tournament press conference, head coach Priya P.V. shared her and the team's excitement ahead of the matches. "We're really happy to be here. Our players have been waiting for the qualifiers very eagerly. We have a new squad which is going to play in an AFC tournament for the first time. Hopefully, they will do their level best," she said.
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India have been in camp since January -- first in Chennai and recently in Indore. In February, the team travelled to Jordan to play two friendly matches against the hosts, winning both 7-0 and 6-0. Last month, the Young Tigresses took part in the SAFF U-17 Women's Championship in Dhaka, where they finished in third place behind winners Russia and runners-up Bangladesh.
Unfortunately, India will miss the services of the promising Shilji Shaji, who was the top-scorer at the SAFF U-17 Women's Championship with eight goals, due to pneumonia. Nishima Kumari was called up to replace her in the Bishkek-bound squad.
The much-cooler Kyrgyz weather could be a challenge for the Indian team, but with three days still to go until the first match, there's plenty of time to acclimatise, according to Priya.
The head coach is also banking on support from Indian students in Bishkek who thronged the stadium in numbers to watch the senior Indian women's team during the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifiers earlier this month.
Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar will play the first match of Group F on Monday. The group winner will make it to the second round of the qualifiers, which will be played in September 2023.
