Sumati Kumari: 18-Yr-Old From Jharkhand Is India’s Youngest In Football Team

JHARKHAND: At only 18 years in age, Sumati Kumari, the youngest of six kids and a rising football star from a Lundru Village in Gumla district of Jharkhand, has made it to the senior women’s team for AFC Asian Cup, where she is to play as a striker. The AFC Cup is to start from January 20 until Feb 6 and will be held in three different cities in Maharashtra, starting from Mumbai.

In the recent past, Sumati was a part of the U-15 squad for the SAIF games, where she shone and gave excellent performances in Bhutan, Hong Kong, and Turkey. She scored three, two, and two goals respectively. Currently, she is training at Goa’s training centre for her upcoming matches for AFC Asian Cup.

She was a part of the AFC training camp which was held in Jharkhand in association with the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Previously, she also represented the national team in Uzbekistan, playing friendly matches which were held in March & April in the past year.

She was part of 7 member U-17 team who were brought back from their homes after Jharkhand’s Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s intervention to Morabadi for dietary support & training. Jharkhand Govt under instructions from CM hosted this Indian Women’s Squad for 3 months in Jamshedpur as part of its effort to empower women in sports. CM Soren has also congratulated Sumiti in a tweet.

Sumati hails from Gumla from a very poor family and has been one of the most promising players in India in the last 2-3 years. She’s a product of the district residential sports centre and since 2020 May, she has fully been supported by the state government. She was trained under coaches Veena Kerketta & Mohd Rizwan of the district residential sports centre.