The second edition of the Indian Women’s League will commence on March 25 with seven teams participating in the final round of the league. The venue for this year’s final round will be Shillong, a change from the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, last year’s venue.
This year’s IWL will feature seven teams as opposed to last year’s six, still a let-down considering the number of Indian Super League and I-League teams who pulled out of the running yet again. Gokulam Kerala FC are the only team from either league to field a women’s team.
Defending champions, Eastern Sporting Union from Manipur return to try and defend the title they so resoundingly won back in 2017. They will miss the services of Oinam Bembem Devi this time around, as the Arjuna awardee is part of the club’s back-room staff this time around.
Runners-up Rising Student Club from Odisha will also resume their challenge for the title, having been pipped by ESU last time around. Both Rising Student and ESU won their qualifying groups in Kohlapur comfortably, in order to qualify for the final round.
Giving them stiff competition will be Sethu FC, comprising mostly of members from the Tamil Nadu women’s team who won their maiden senior national title this time around, upsetting Manipur 2-1 in the final.
Another team from Manipur, KRYHPSA, will try to snatch the title from their state counterparts, and are expected to be as competitive. Completing the line-up are Gokulam, India Rush Soccer Club and Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports and Education.
All seven teams will be in one group, playing each other once, before the top four teams face each other in the semifinals, with the final taking place on the 15th of April.
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