By Arka Dyuti Palit

AIFF Media Team

SHILLONG: After circumstances didn’t allow her to participate last season, Bala Devi is all geared up to make her mark in the ongoing Hero Indian Women’s League 2017-18. The Senior Women’s National Team Captain is ‘determined to prove detractors wrong’ with her performances.

“I want to perform at my best. After my injury people said I’m finished. I’m determined to prove detractors wrong.”

Plying her trade for KRYHPSA in the IWL, Bala has already made people sit up and notice with her team’s 5-0 demolition of Sethu FC, “Everything clicked for us. It was a perfect day of football for the entire team.”

“Personally too I’m happy that I was able to score and was involved in two other goals. But this is just the beginning. Anything can happen”, summing up her performance.

The Hero Indian Women’s League 2017-18 has a more competitive look this season. Traditional powerhouses of Indian Women’s Football Manipur have two teams vying for the title. The defending champions – Eastern Sporting Union and Bala’s own KRYHPSA.

While, the former is led by the legendary Bembem Devi, the latter has Chaoba Devi leading the charge. With India regulars in their ranks, both teams are certainly the ones to beat. But the others too have strengthened their ranks.

Last year’s finalists Rising Students Club, Sethu FC, India Rush SC, Indira Gandhi ASE and Gokulam Kerala FC – all have a good mix of youth and experience and can beat any team on their day. Bala knows this and has her take on it, “The IWL has certainly grown this year. Each team has the ability to win against the other. So we cannot take any team lightly.”

“Sethu has Tamil Nadu players who did well in the Women’s Senior NFC as well as Indira. Rising have strong set of players so do Rush and Gokulam”, she went on to add.

The Hero Indian Women’s League also provides the platform for lot of young talent to shine through and catch the eyes of the scouts watching. “The professional setup helps. Many young players want to prove that they have it to play against the best while the seniors want to show that they can still perform at the top.”

“It is healthy as well as a cut-throat competition at the same time as every team wants to win”, she signed off.