Kickstart, Misaka look for strong IWL show

As the Indian Women's League (IWL) gets underway in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, Karnataka will have a strong representation with two teams hoping to cement their place in the top division of the women's game in the country.

With the AIFF revamping the league structure, the top eight teams from the 16-team competition will secure their spots in next year's 10-team league.

To that end, both Kickstart FC and Misaka United FC, two teams from Bengaluru, will look to secure their position.

Kickstart, four-time Karnataka Women's League defending champions and third in the last edition of the IWL, will start as outside favourites for the title having assembled a strong side with the likes of international goalkeeper Linghoingambi Devi and Dalima Chibber. Defender Shubhangi Singh, U-17 World Cup captain Astam Oram and striker Kaviya Pakkirisamy, who has been lighting up the scoreboard in the local division, will add variety to the side along with the two foreign midfielders and a striker.

"I am very excited. The girls are young, they have a point to prove," Chibber told DH. "We have a mixture of experience and youth, a few girls who played U-17 World Cup and in the U-20 national team."

With the squad on offer, Chibber feels the team can go all the way.

"The target is to win. We have come third last time and we want to build on that. But we will focus on one game at a time because it will be a long journey," she remarked.

Placed in Group B, Kickstart will start their campaign against former champions Eastern Sporting Union on Thursday.

Meanwhile, it's a slightly different scenario for Misaka, who are making their first appearance in the IWL.

They do have a competitive squad, though, with the likes of Lalrinmuani, Mythili Parvati Vaidya, Sudha Tirkey and Kanchan Rawat. While the squad lacks IWL experience, the coaches are hoping that retaining the bulk of their squad from the KWL will serve them well.

Interestingly, the club has chosen to go with a foreign goalkeeper, in addition to two strikers from abroad, and that might just prove to be a masterstroke.

"We've had a strong training camp leading up to the tournament. The team is in good spirits, we are going in feeling confident. We have retained a significant portion of our players from KWL and that rapport and chemistry is there. We don't know what to expect in terms of calibre (in the competition) but we are going to take it in our stride," said captain Tarini Kumar.

"We have not kept any expectations. We will take one game at a time, and keep small milestones. The top eight is a target, it is a target most teams will have," said coach Antony Dias.

Misaka will kick off the proceedings against Mata Rukmini FC on Wednesday in their Group A clash.