Panthoi Chanu, an heir to Aditi Chauhan in the Indian women’s team, joins Australian club Metro United

The goalkeeper in the Indian senior women’s national team has remained a permanent name in the last decade – Aditi Chauhan.

A player with European experience, featuring seven times for West Ham United between 2015 and 2018, Aditi helped India win three SAFF Championships and two South Asian Games gold medals.

With age, however, injuries have become her Achilles heel, which saw her leave the field in tears during a friendly against Nepal in February last year.

Her replacement then, Elangbam Panthoi Chanu, has now become her rightful heir between the sticks.

A Golden Glove winner in the Indian Women’s League – the top division of women’s football in the country – at 22, Chanu has filled into Aditi’s shoes with responsibility, pulling off notable performances in the latest international games.

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On Tuesday, another feather was added to her cap when Australian club Metro United roped her in for the 2024 season.

“I hope to do well and make my country proud. This has been my dream to push myself to higher levels and I hope I can do justice to this opportunity,” Chanu said.

Metro United plays in the Women’s National Premier League, the top division of women’s football in Southern Australia, and the goalie from Manipur will feature as the team’s No. 1.

“I’ll be honest. In women’s football, good goalkeepers are hard to find, certainly in Australia. We saw (and liked) certain qualities that she possessed and thus, decided to pursue her.

“We are very fortunate to bring her here to Australia and spend the season with us in Adelaide,” Paul Morris, Metro United’s coach said.

Chanu’s quick reflexes and sweeping abilities first attracted attention when she won the maiden edition of the expanded Indian Women’s League with Eastern Union at 21 and finished as runner-up in the next edition, winning the best goalkeeper award.

In the recently concluded Turkish Women’s Cup, she continued to be India’s No.1, – ensuring a clean sheet against Hong Kong – as it finished runner-up, with a 0-1 loss to Kosovo in the final round-robin match.

“Adelaide United women’s coach Adrian Stenta spent some time in India, doing some coaching schools and when she returned, she and I had a chat on how we would set up our team (Metro United) for the next season,” Morris added.

“She recommended Panthoi and we had a look at some of her videos, went online and found some more, playing for Eastern Sporting and India. We liked what we saw and we signed her to bring her to Australia.”

Chanu etched her name among several Indian national team players who have played for clubs outside India, such as Ngangom Bala Devi, Dangmei Grace and Manisha Kalyan, with Manisha still playing with Cypriot side Apollon Ladies.

She is also the fourth player to be scouted from the recent trials, conducted by Women in Sports, to join a foreign club.

Earlier, Jyothi Chouhan had renewed her contract with Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, while Kiran Pisda and M. K. Kashmina also moved to the same club for the first time.

Chanu’s next club sits fourth from bottom after two games and was hammered 0-5 in its last fixture against West Adelaide. With the Indian goalie making history in the Island nation, Metro United will also look to turn the tide with its latest signing on board.

“We are looking forward to getting her settled in and hopefully, if everything goes well, she’ll make her debut against Football Federation South Australia NTC,” Morris said.