Thinley Namgay

Winning all four games so far, Gelephu Girls Academy FC, Royal Thimphu College (RTC) Women’s FC, Thimphu Women’s FC, and Ugyen Academy (UA) Women’s FC are tied on points in the Women’s National League Qualifiers 2023 as of yesterday.

However, Girls Academy is at the top with a goal difference of 53 goals, followed by RTC Women’s FC 45, Thimphu Women’s FC 31, and UA Women’s FC 30.

Girls Academy will face their arch rivals Thimphu Women’s FC at the RTC ground on July 8.

Girls Academy’s coach Karma Dema said that the opponent is one of the strongest teams.  “They have more national players compared to us. Nevertheless, we aim to win and earn three crucial points.”

In the last national league, Thimphu Women’s FC won 1-0 against Girls Academy. However, Karma Dema is assertive that the prominent national squad striker Deki Lhazom is in her team, and could make a difference.

She said that the current top four teams are equally good due to timely training.

Of the eight participating teams from various districts, Transport United Ladies, and Samtse Women’s FC managed three points from five games played.

However, two newcomers – Gelephu City Women’s FC, and Bumthang Women’s FC are yet to clinch a point as they lost five straight matches.

Bumthang’s head coach Dechen Choki is optimistic that she could at least win against Gelephu City FC. She said the team didn’t have required training and some players couldn’t join during the games.

In Bumthang Women’s FC, some are students and are not permitted by the respective school and college during their academic period.  This led Dechen Choki to find a player from within her locality. 

However, Dechen expects to gain positive outcomes as students are currently on holiday and she could be able to form a decent team for the two remaining games.

The single-league format tournament which began on May 6 will end next month.  All teams have to play seven games each at six different venues across the country. Ten games are yet to play out of 28.

The top six teams will qualify for the 2023 Bhutan Women’s National League which is expected to be held in September.