Bengal face old rivals Manipur

Calcutta, May 15: It will be deja vu for Bengal and Manipur women's football teams when they meet in the final of the National Championships...

Calcutta, May 15: It will be deja vu for Bengal and Manipur women8217;s football teams when they meet in the final of the National Championships at Barasat Stadium tomorrow. It will be their sixth such meeting since 1993. In other words, this tournament has been a monopoly for these two teams. Of course, the floodlights wil be a new addition this time.

Bengal won the first edition in 1993. They were runners-up to Manipur for the next three years, before regaining the title in 1997. This year, they are defending the crown, but are definitely not certain whether they will be able to keep it. Even though the Bengal girls are more skillful, Manipur make up with their speed and stamina. The factor which might make a difference is the crowd. The semi-finals at the venue had seen a motley yet vociferous crowd. While the galleries had enjoyed these two games, tomorrow they are sure to root for Bengal. The psychological edge will be with the home team.

Bengal have experience on their side with veteran Puspa Dasleading the team. Although the forward is over the hill, others like Chaitali Kar and Sujata Kar are quite capable of the task. Chaitali particularly, has been strong as rock for her side. Not only has she been playing well, she also directs the youngsters and maintains a balance so important at this level. She has been doing most of the feeding from behind. Playing as a libero yesterday against Goa, Chaitali turned out to be the most dangerous player.

Manipur, on the other hand, have a good forward line in Tababi Devi, Lokeswori Devi and Chaoba Devi. Although Lokeswori was off colour in the semi-final against Kerala, SH Rani took up the job and played a very good game.

Among the others, the stocky Khomdongbi Devi and Bembem Devi will need a watching when Manipur take on Bengal tomorrow. Both these midfielders have been consistent in their performance so far. Bembem is capable of taking very good long-ranger, although the best player for these attempts will be on the other side. Chaitali Kar8217;s 40-yardgoal against Goa in the semi-final could make even IM Vijayan proud.

Both the teams are yet to concede a goal in the meet so far. In fact, their custodians have been rarely challenged. Tomorrow, they will definitely have more work on hand.