Bala Devi

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Bala Devi
Ngangom Bala interview.jpg
Personal information
Full name Ngangom Bala Devi
Date of birth (1990-02-02) 2 February 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Manipur, India
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Manipur Police
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015 New Radiant 7 (25)
2016–2017 Manipur Police
2017 Eastern Sporting Union 3 (4)
2017–2018 KRYPHSA 7 (12)
2018–2019 Manipur Police 7 (26)
2020–2021 Rangers 9 (2)
2022 Manipur Police
2023 Odisha 8 (6)
2023– Manipur Police
International career‡
2005 India U17 3 (5)
2006–2007 India U19 8 (5)
2005–2023 India 64 (52)
Medal record
Representing Flag of India.svg  India
SAFF Women's Championship
Winner 2010 Bangladesh
Winner 2014 Pakistan
Winner 2016 India
South Asian Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2010 Bangladesh Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2016 India Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Nepal Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 October 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 November 2023

Ngangom Bala Devi (born 2 February 1990) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the club Manipur Police and the India national team.

Contents

Club career

Born in Manipur, Devi grew up playing the game with mainly boys. [1] She was a part of the Manipur U-19 team that took part in the Under-19 Women's Championship in Assam in 2002. After the tournament she was declared the best player of the tournament. [1] She was awarded the same title the next year in 2003. [1] She also earned top-scorer awards at the under-17 level for her state. [1] Eventually, Devi went on to represent the Manipur Senior Women's Football Team in the Senior Women's National Football Championship. [2] She was very influential in her state, winning the women's football championship in 2014, scoring a brace as Manipur defeated Odisha in the final 3–1. [3] This was Manipur's first championship since 2010 and their 17th overall. While playing with Manipur, Devi was teammates with India captain and AIFF Women's Player of Year, Oinam Bembem Devi. [3] She finished the tournament scoring 29 goals in seven matches. [1]

During the 2015 National Games of India, Devi represented her state as they won the gold medal. She scored the equalizer in the final against Odisha to make it 1–1 at the Corporation Stadium. The team went on to win the match 4–2 on penalties. [4]

In 2014, Devi signed a contract with New Radiant WSC [5] of Maldives in the FAM Women's Football Championship alongside players Oinam Bembem Devi and Lako Phuti Bhutia.

She played inaugural season of Indian Women's League 2016–17 with Manipur Police Sports Club in qualifying round and in Final Round played with Eastern Sporting Union. In 2017–18 IWL 2nd season she joined KRYPHSA and in 2018–19 IWL 3rd season she re-joined Manipur Police Sports Club.

In January 2020, Devi signed a professional contract of 18 months with Scottish Women's Premier League club Rangers, making her one of the few Indian women to become a professional footballer abroad. [6] [7] On 6 December 2020, she became the first Indian woman to score in a professional football league in Europe by netting for the Rangers, as they won against Motherwell by 9–0. [8] An ankle injury ruled her out for the rest of the matches and she later parted ways with the club.

In December 2022, Devi moved to Spain along with Elangbam Panthoi Chanu, and underwent training cum trial stint at Spanish Segunda Federación club Málaga. [9]

In 2023, she signed with Indian Women's League debutant Odisha WFC. [10]

International career

Devi's first tournament with the national team was at the under-17 level in 2005. [1] She has represented India at the senior level since 2005. [11] She also represented the India women's under-19 side in 2006 and 2007. [12] [13] She was a part of the India team that took part in the first women's SAFF Championship in 2010. [14] On 13 December 2010 she scored five goals in India's opening match of the tournament against Bhutan as India won 18–0. [15] India went on to win the tournament, defeating Nepal 1–0. [16] She scored total 8 goals in 5 matches.

Despite being a part of the 2010 winning team, Devi was not included in the India squad that won the tournament again in 2012. [17] She did return to the team for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers in May 2013 but India failed to qualify. [18]

On 27 October 2014, it was announced that Devi was selected into the India squad that was to participate in the 2014 SAFF Women's Championship, her first SAFF Championship since 2010. [19] She started the tournament in fantastic form as she scored four goals in the opening match against Maldives. [20] Her form continued into the next match against Bangladesh as she scored a brace in a 5–1 victory for India. [21] [22] Devi then scored five more goals in the final group stage match against Afghanistan on 17 November. [23] [24] She finished the group stage with eleven goals from three matches. [25]

During the semi-final against Sri Lanka Devi scored only once in a 5–0 thrashing. [26] However, in the final, Devi managed to find the net four times as India defeated Nepal 6–0 to claim their third straight SAFF Championship crown. [27] [28]

Devi finished the 2014 SAFF Championship with sixteen goals in only five matches. [2] Due to her performance in the tournament, Devi was awarded the Women's Player of the Year award by the All India Football Federation. [2] Also awarded in the next year 2015 Indian Women's Player of the Year. In 2016 South Asian Games she scored 3 goals in 5 matches. She also captained India women's national football team in 2016 SAFF Women's Championship. She also clinched the title first time as a captain.

Personal life

While a semi-professional footballer in India, Devi also worked as a policewoman for the Manipur Police. She was promoted to Inspector rank following her impressive performance in football for Rangers. [1] She completed her education at the Oinam Thambal Marik College. [1]

Career statistics

As of 1 November 2020
Appearances and Goals by year
YearAppsGoals
2010510
201133
201200
201340
2014812
201520
201673
201771
201834
201995
Total4538

International goals

Scores and results list India's goal tally first.
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.18 March 2011 Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 1–03–0 2012 Summer Olympics qualification
2.2–0
3.3–0
4.13 November 2014 Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 1–08–0 2014 SAFF Women's Championship
5.2–0
6.4–0
7.5–0
8.15 November 2014Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 3–15–1
9.5–1
10.17 November 2014Flag of Afghanistan (2013-2021).svg  Afghanistan 2–012–0
11.4–0
12.6–0
13.7–0
14.11–0
15.19 November 2014Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 2–05–0
16.21 November 2014Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 2–06–0
17.3–0
18.5–0
19.6–0
20.13 February 2016 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong, India Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 2–05–1 2016 South Asian Games
21.5–1
22.15 February 2016Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 3–04–0
23.7 April 2017 Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 1–41–7 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification
24.29 August 2019Yakkasary Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 1–01–5 Friendly
25.3 December 2019 Pokhara Rangasala, Pokhara, Nepal Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 2–05–0 2019 South Asian Games
26.3–0
27.5 December 2019Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 6–06–0
28.7 December 2019Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 1–01–0
29.9 December 2019Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 1–02–0
30.2–0

Honours

India

Eastern Sporting Union

Manipur

New Radiant WSC

Individual

See also

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 "International Women's Day Special: Interview with Indian women's football team striker Ngangom Bala Devi". SportsKeeda. 8 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 "It's title No. 17 for Manipur women". The Hindu. 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 June 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Manipur clinch 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals Manipur ranked at 7th position on the 10th day". E-Pao. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Cyriac, Biju Babu (30 January 2020). "Bala Devi who earlier played in Maldives for New Radiant sports club". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "Rangers Sign Indian International Bala Devi". Rangers Football Club. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. ↑ Kulkarni, Abhijeet (27 April 2020). "An Indian footballer in Europe: Before Bala Devi, there was Sujata Kar and a huge lost opportunity". scroll.in. Scroll. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Bala Devi becomes first Indian woman footballer to score in Europe". Goal.com. 6 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Mergulhao, Marcus (4 January 2023). "Bala sets sights on Spain's top division". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Panaji: The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
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  20. ↑ Jabbar Faisal, Abdul (14 November 2014). "India crush Maldives 8-0, Bangladesh outplay Afghanistan 6-1". Daily Times. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
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  28. ↑ "Breaking News: India Clinch 3rd SAFF Championship Beating Nepal". GoalNepal.com. 21 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  29. ↑ "South Asian Games: Bala Devi grabs brace as India mauls Maldives 5–0" . Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  30. ↑ "Indian women's football team trounces Sri Lanka 6–0 in South Asian Games" . Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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  34. ↑ "Manipur champions for the 22nd time in Sr Women's NFC for Rajmata Jijabai Trophy". AIFF. 15 May 2024.
  35. ↑ "National Games 2022, October 10 HIGHLIGHTS: Manipur wins women's football gold; Tamil Nadu tops Group A in men's volleyball". Sportstar. 10 October 2022. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  36. ↑ "RISING STUDENT CLUB CROWNED CHAMPIONS OF HERO IWL". 14 April 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  37. ↑ "Bala Devi, Manisha Kalyan named winners of annual AIFF Awards". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

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