The Indian women’s national team will take on Chinese Taipei and Thailand in the Asian Games hosted by China. The tournament is scheduled to be held in September with the football section to be held from 19 September to October 7, 2023. The competition will be played in a group and knockout format both in a single round-robin system. Seventeen teams have been divided into five groups where Group A, B and C have three teams each while Group D and E have four teams each. The top team from each group and the three best second-placed teams among all the groups will advance to the knockout stage.
India received permission to participate in the Asian Games a day before the draw took place on 27th July 2023. Both Men’s and Women’s teams will travel to China for the tournament in September after several requests from the fans, men’s national team coach Igor Stimac and the AIFF. The country was initially denied entry by the sports ministry for not meeting certain standards. This will be the nation’s first participation in the Asian Games since 2014 after not being allowed to participate in the last edition.
History
Unlike the men’s side, the women’s national team were allowed to participate in the Asian Games just twice before. Their first participation came in 1998 when they finished in the group stages and in the eighth position in the overall rankings. The same outcome happened in the only other appearance in 2014 when the Blue Tigresses finished in ninth position. They won their first game in the tournament history in that edition defeating the Maldives by 15-0 in Round 1.
Group B
Chinese Taipei
Thailand
India
India will take on Chinese Taipei in their first match of the Games. Incidentally, they were the same opponents the Blue Tigresses were about to face in the second group stage game of the forgetful AFC Women’s Asian Cup hosted by the country last year. The team had to withdraw from the competition altogether on the day of the match because of a Covid outbreak in the camp. Both Chinese Taipei and Thailand, both reaching the quarterfinals of the competition, will be tough tests to overcome to reach the knockouts. The opponents are also higher ranked than India’s Women’s team who are currently 60th on the table. Whereas Chinese Taipei are ranked 37th and Thailand sits at 44th.
Fixtures
Thursday, 21 September 2023
Chinese Taipei vs India - Wenzhou (17:00)
Sunday 24 September 2023
India vs Thailand - Wenzhou (17:00)
Saturday, 30 September 2023
Women's Quarter-final
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Women's Semi-final
Friday, 6 October 2023
Women's Gold/Bronze medal match
Note: All timings are in Indian Standard Time (IST)
