India embark on inaugural SAFF Women's Futsal Championship in Thailand

The championship, being held for the first time, will offer India a chance not only to earn their first victory in international women's futsal but also to claim their maiden silverware.

The Futsal Tigresses will begin their campaign against the Maldives on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at the Nonthaburi Stadium in Nonthaburi, Thailand, at 12:30 IST, as per the AIFF website.

India's participation in the AFC Women's Futsal Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers last year, under head coach Joshuah Vaz, provided valuable lessons in international futsal, with players gaining competitive minutes against strong Asian opposition.

Vaz named a squad of 14 players for the SAFF tournament, with seven of them carrying Asian experience from last January (Tanvi Mavani, Achom Degio, Arya More, Radhika Patel, Pooja Gupta, Ritika Singh, and Khushbu Saroj).

Vaz was clear about India's objective as they prepare for the championship."Hopefully, after the first game, we will understand our opponents better. Things usually become clearer once the tournament begins," he said, underlining that real insights come through match action.

Captain Jigmet Chunzen, who hails from Ladakh and will make her India debut, also iterated the team's ambition. "This is the first time the SAFF Women's Futsal Championship is being organised. Naturally, we have come here with the objective of winning the tournament. That is our ultimate goal."

India arrived in Thailand on January 7 after a month-long preparatory camp in Bengaluru. With limited historical information available on their SAFF opponents, Vaz acknowledged the challenge of preparation: "At the moment, we have very little information about our opponents. Most of them come from football-playing nations and have participated in SAFF football tournaments in the past, but in futsal, there is limited data available."

He highlighted the strengths within the Indian camp."Our squad is very young, with an average age of around 21 years. Despite that, we are here to compete and to win, and we will give our best throughout the championship."

Jigmet added, "All teams have come here to win. Whoever gives their best on the court in the upcoming two weeks will have the chance to lift the trophy."

After the Maldives, India will face Bangladesh (January 15), Nepal (January 17), Pakistan (January 19), Bhutan (January 23), and Sri Lanka (January 25), all played at Nonthaburi Stadium in Thailand. The table toppers at the end of all seven rounds of matches will be crowned the first-ever SAFF Women's Futsal champions.

Vaz also highlighted the broader importance of the tournament for the development of futsal in South Asia. "I would like to congratulate SAFF for taking this initiative to start futsal. Building a strong futsal foundation will help SAFF nations grow and compete not only in futsal at the AFC level, but also strengthen football in the future," he said. (ANI)