Shillong, May 24: For the first time ever, two Meghalaya females have been included in the Indian senior national women’s football team – Ribansi Jamu and Sanfida Nongrum (pictured left and right).
This 23-member squad, named by head coach Crispin Chettri yesterday, will participate in the SAFF Women’s Championship 2026, which will be held in Margao, Goa, from 25th May to 6th June.
Sanfida made her international debut for the Blue Tigresses only this year and there have never been two Indians in the senior women’s squad, at least by TSR’s own reckoning. Ribansi has represented the India U-20 team, though largely from the bench.
The preliminary squad of 26 players was announced on Tuesday. From that list, three players have been released — defender Shubhangi Singh, midfielder Priyadharshini Selladurai and forward Rimpa Haldar.
Twenty-two players are currently part of the camp. Manisha Kalyan, who plies her trade for a club in Peru, can only join when the FIFA international match window begins on 1st June.
India, placed in Group B, will open their campaign against Maldives on 25th May at 7:30pm before taking on Bangladesh on 31st May at the same time.
Group A contains Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. The top two teams from each group will make it to the semi-finals, which will be held on 3rd June. The final will take place on 6th June at 6:30. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be the venue for all matches.
India’s 23-member squad for SAFF Women’s Championship 2026:
Goalkeepers: Panthoi Chanu Elangbam, Ribansi Jamu, Shreya Hooda
Defenders: Astam Oraon, Juli Kishan, Nirmala Devi Phanjoubam, Purnima Kumari, Ranjana Chanu Sorokhaibam, Sarita Yumnam, Thoibisana Chanu Toijam
Midfielders: Aveka Singh, Jasoda Munda, Priyangka Devi Naorem, Sanfida Nongrum, Sangita Basfore, Shilky Devi Hemam
Forwards: Grace Dangmei, Karishma Shirvoikar, Lynda Kom Serto, Malavika P, Manisha Kalyan, Pyari Xaxa, Soumya Guguloth
Head coach: Crispin Chettri
Assistant coaches: Sujata Kar and Nivetha Ramadoss
Goalkeeping coach: Mario Aguiar
Strength & conditioning coach: Amit Yadav
India’s fixtures:
25th May, vs Maldives, 7:30PM
31st May, vs Bangladesh, 7:30PM
(File photos)
