A 23-member Senior Indian Women Football Team, featuring Manisha Panna and Pyari Xaxa from Odisha, has ended its exposure tour to UAE and Bahrain on a successful note, winning three out of four international friendlies. In the fourth and last match, Indian women defeated higher-ranked Chinese Taipei 1-0 in Bahrain today.

Renu scored the all-important goal in the third minute of the game to propel her side to a win over 40th ranked Chinese Taipei. The Indian side coached by Thomas Dennerby, had beaten host nation Bahrain 5-0 on October 10. The Indian team, ranked 57th, had also beaten UAE 4-1 and lost to 77th-ranked Tunisia 1-0 on October 2 and 4 respectively.

In the four friendlies, India scored a total of 10 goals and conceded two. Odisha forward Pyari Xaxa emerged top scorer for India, netting three goals, including two against Bahrain. She missed the match against Chinese Taipei as she had been shown red card in the previous game against Bahrain.

These friendly matches are part preparations for the Indian team ahead of the AFC Women Asian Cup, which will be held in January-February next year. The Indian team will now travel to Sweden, where it will face Swedish Women Premier League sides Hammarby and Djurgårdens IF.

RESULTS:
October 2: India 4 (Manisha Kalyan 20th, Pyari Xaxa 27th, Sweety Devi 41st, Anju Tamang 75th) beat UAE 1 ().
October 4: Tunisia 1 (Heuij 8th-P) beat India 0.
October 10: India 5 (Sangita Basfore 13th, Pyari Xaxa 19th, 68th; Indumathi Kathiresan 34th, Manisha Kalyan 69th) beat Bahrain 0.
October 13: India 1 (Renu 3rd) beat Chinese Taipei 0.
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PHOTO: Senior India Women Team before its match against Bahrain on 10 October 2021.