Purnima Kumari (born 10 February 2005) [1] is an Indian football player from Jharkhand. She plays for the India women's national football team as a defender. She is registered with the Tamil Nadu Football Association, and plays for Sethu Football Club, Madurai in the domestic tournaments.
Kumari is from Jambahar village, Thethaitanger block, Simdega district, Jharkhand. [2] Her father’s name Jeetu Manjhi and she has five sisters and a brother, Ranjit Manjhi, who is a daily wage worker. Her brother also runs a roadside cart to sell instant food. Her second eldest sister, Sanmait Kumari brought her up [3] after the death of her mother Chaiti Devi in 2006. She comes from a poor family and lives in a thatched hut. Since they do not have a TV at home, the family tried to watch her under–17 World Cup matches on a mobile phone, but bad network let them down. She learnt football playing with her brother during her childhood. [2] [3]
She studied at Government Middle School, Jambahar and shifted to Ursuline Convent School in Simdega town from Class 6. In 2016, she joined a residential girls football training center in Hazaribag where she joined St. Columbus collegiate school.
Kumari represented India in the 7th FIFA U–17 Women’s World Cu p 2022 at Odisha. [4] [5] The Indian team played three matches against USA, Brazil and Morocco in Group A and lost all their matches. [6] [7]
She took part in the School Games Federation of India games, Subroto Cup and in 2019 played the under–17 All India Federation Cup. [3] She also played in the under–17 SAFF Women's championship in Bhutan in 2019-2020, under–19 SAFF Women's championship in Bangladesh in 2021 and under–18 SAFF Women's championship in Jamshedpur in 2022. [3]