Football, Turkish Women’s Cup: Manisha stars as India win seven-goal thriller against Estonia

India withstood firmly a late charge by Estonia to pick up a hard-fought 4-3 win in the Turkish Women’s Cup on Wednesday.

In the process, the Chaoba Devi-coached side also created a piece of history as the Indian senior women’s team had never before triumphed over a team from the UEFA confederation in an official outing. Three times before this, India played Belarus, Ukraine and Romania, only to end up on the losing side.

Played at the picturesque Gold City Sports Complex in Alanya, Turkey, the Blue Tigresses made a picture-perfect start when they shot into the lead in the 17th minute through a Manisha Kalyan goal.

After Estonia drew level in the 32nd minute off a goal by Lisette Tammik, a rampaging India struck thrice through Indumathi Kathiresan (62’), Pyari Xaxa (79'), and Manisha (81’) again to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

Just as it appeared that the Indian girls were on their way to a resounding victory, Estonia made a last-ditch effort to equalise, scoring twice through Vlada Kubassova (88') and Mari Liis Lillemae (90'). However, the Indian defence did a fine job to see out the rest of the time and make it a memorable win.

At the start, India began with an intent to hit...

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