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Legendary Indian women footballer Oinam Bembem Devi was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. She was facilitated with the honor at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. She is now the only Indian women's footballer to be a 'Padma Shri'.
The 41-year-old is popularly known as 'The Durga of Indian Football' for arguably being the greatest Indian women's footballer. She inspired many young Indian girls, especially from the state of Manipur, to take up the sport as a full-time profession.
The Twitter Handle of the President of India also tweeted similar lines. It said:
"President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Ms Oinam Bembem Devi for Sports. She is the former captain of the Indian women's football team and is also known as "Durga of Indian football".
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Bembem Devi has been a midfield maestro for Indian women's football
Devi made her Indian women's senior football team debut at the age of 15 at the Asian Women's Championships back in 1995. The young Manipuri was one of the finest players in the 1996 Asian Games where India faced Japan, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and North Korea.
She was eventually handed the captain's armband for the national team in 2003 for her creative abilities in midfield. Her first official competition as the captain of the Indian women's football team was the AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying competition. It was held in Thailand in 2003.
She has led the Blue Tigresses to three SAFF Women's Championship titles and two South Asian Games Gold Medals. Devi retired from the India Blue after winning her second gold medal for Team India. This came at the 2016 South Asian Games, where they beat Nepal in the final.
Her exploits for the Indian football women's team earned her several other honors. She became only the second Indian women's footballer after Shanti Mallick (1993) to be awarded the Arjuna Award back in 2017.
Bembem Devi also has had an illustrious club football career in India and Maldives
Bembem Devi joined the United Pioneers Club in Imphal at the tender age of eight in 1988. Her performance for the Manipur Youth Teams resulted in moves to YSLL Club and SUN Club in Manipur.
She also went overseas to the Maldives to ply her trade for New Radiant Club in the Maldives Women's Football League in 2014. She ended up as the highest scorer in the tournament. She scored six goals in three matches and made four assists as well. Devi's midfield domination awarded her the 'Player of the Tournament' award.
Devi was part of the Eastern Sporting Union side for three seasons of the Indian Women's League as well from 2016 to 2018. She led the side to the league title in the 2016-17 season.
