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In June, Tamil Nadu played Haryana at the finals of the 2023 Senior Women’s National Football Championship in Amritsar. By the fifty-sixth minute, Haryana led 0-1. Soon after, Tamil Nadu player Priyadarshini S rose over her peers in the opponents’ penalty box and guided a powerful header into the bottom corner of the goal. Her teammates rushed to her and swallowed the player into a joyful embrace. Almost 3,000 km away in the town of Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvarur district, a group of young children huddled around a tiny cell phone also erupted in celebrations. These were 20-year-old Priyadarshini’s juniors and former classmates, who watched the match online between their football practice sessions. Tamil Nadu went on to win the championship that day, beating Haryana with a second goal.

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND: ‘Raw talent’ is how coach Crispin Chettri defines Priyadharshini Selladurai, the Indian women’s national team’s newest goalscorer. 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, but 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.

Dharshini recently turned heads playing for Liberty Ladies in the Indian Women’s League 2. She also lit up the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports League, finishing with 23 goals to claim both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball for the best player. Women’s football in India finds itself at an interesting crossroads. While the senior national team enjoyed a dream run in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers, going unbeaten to seal its place in the tournament on merit, the campaign itself proved disappointing, with India exiting in the group stage this month.

CHENNAI: Tirupattur’s skipper Sarathipriya slammed a stellar 127 off 142 balls in her side’s 208-run win over Theni in TNCA’s Inter Districts Women’s Tournament. If Sarathipriya showed her prowess in Coimbatore, Perambalur’s Abhinandini smashed an unbeaten 109 in Erode, as her side beat Nagapattinam on Friday.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has expressed its interest in hosting the 2029 National Games and sought the union government’s support for a series of ambitious sports infrastructure and athlete development projects aimed at transforming the state into a premier sporting destination. Uttarakhand hosted the National Games in 2025 and Meghalaya will hold the National Games 2027. Aadhav Arjuna, state minister for public works, highways and sports development departments, met Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum outlining the state’s vision for sports development. The memorandum highlighted key proposals including to host the 2029 National Games, building on Tamil Nadu’s track record of successfully organising major national and international sporting events.