SAFF Women’s Championship Lionesses off to Nepal to bring glory to country

Tuesday, 15 October 2024 02:54 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka Women’s national football team with officials

By Althaf Nawaz

The Women’s national football team left for Nepal to participate in the SAFF Women’s Championship to be staged from 17 to 30 October at the Dasharath Stadium in Nepal.

After several rounds of trials, the selectors pruned down the squad to 23 players, which mainly comprised players from the tri-forces (Army, Navy, Air Force).

The Navy’s Thushani Madushika has been appointed Captain and will have 12 senior players, along with a 17-year-old.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, and host Nepal will compete for supremacy in this year’s event. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are slated in Group ‘A’ while Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal will lock horns in Group ‘B’. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the semi-finals on 27 October, while the grand finale will be on 30 October.

The team is under the watchful eye of former Zahirian, National player, Colombo FC champion Coach, and ex-National Coach Mohamed Hassan Roomy, who took over the herculean task of forming a strong team even without the lasses having played any domestic competitions due to various reasons.

A capable coach with proven results who does not shy away from a challenge, Roomy had mixed reactions on this tour.

“When I took over this uphill task, there was no football for the lasses in the country. But at the request of Football Sri Lanka, I took over this task and trained the lasses for about 40 days. Initially, we scoured the country and formed a pool of around 30 players, and finally pruned it down to 23 selecting the best available resources,” said Roomy.

“Day by day the girls showed drastic improvement. We were also able to play a few practice games which enabled us to rectify our shortcomings and overcome them. Our target is to give our best and become the second-best team in our group. I hope the girls – who are very keen and pumped up – will be up to the task and bring glory to the country,”

concluded Roomy.

Sri Lanka squad: Chamantha Salomi, Maheshika Kumuduni, Shashikala Maduwanthi Ratnayaka, Sewwandi Subasinghe, Maduki Perera, Sachini de Silva, Sanjeewani Perera, Shanika Madumali, Selvaraj Yuwarani, Ishamka Ayomi, Thushani Madushika (c), Madubashini Navanjana, Paskaran Shanu, Dilasha Imasha, Geethajali Madushani, Ashani Imesha Anuradhini, Dilinika Lochani, Surenthiran Gowri, Kankalamge Imesha, Sivaneswaran Tharmika, Tharidi Ranshari, Sanduni Sewmini, M. Hassan Roomy (Head Coach)