India’s first women’s international in Kolkata had six debutants, and Russia won it 4-0
Kira Petukhova’s second-half double pulled world No. 27 Russia clear of a young India side at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan. The two meet again on Sunday.
Oct 9, 2026
Crispin Chettri sent out a young India side for the first senior women’s international ever played in Kolkata, and six players won their first caps. Russia, ranked 27th in the world to India’s 69th, won 4-0 at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan on Thursday evening.
For an hour it was closer than that. Iana Sheina beat Monalisha Devi Moirangthem with a low finish just before half-time, and India went in only a goal down. Then it rained, and the game got away from them.
How the goals came
Kira Petukhova scored twice in five minutes, on 60 and 65, and that settled it. Petukhova’s first came after Monalisha could only parry a long shot from Nadezhda Smirnova on the wet surface. Iana Svistunova added the fourth on 81 minutes. Russia are in the middle of their league season. India have not played a competitive game since June, and Chettri admitted afterwards that it told.
Before that, India had chances of their own. Malavika P had the best of them around the half-hour, until Russia keeper Natalia Silina rushed out to smother it. Lynda Kom Serto also had a sight of goal. Monalisha, making her first start in goal and winning her third cap, made several important saves.
The six debutants
Babysana Devi Thingbaijam and Malati Munda both started. Both went off in a triple change on 66 minutes, when debutant Shubhangi Singh came on with Priyadharshini Selladurai and Renu. Dhurga Perumal and Cindy Colney were brought on later, and Sibani Devi Nongmeikapam also won her first senior cap.
India started with Monalisha; Purnima Kumari, Jasoda Munda, Sangita Basfore and Sanfida Nongrum; Lynda Kom Serto, Babysana, Ranjana Chanu Sorokhaibam and Juli Kishan; Malati and Malavika.
Sanfida was the player of the tournament when India won the SAFF Women’s Championship for a sixth time in June, beating Bangladesh 3-1 in the final in Margao.
What Chettri took from it
“I think the positive of this match is, although being a young side, we showed character. We are not scared to press; we are not scared to run,” he said after the game.
“The most important thing is we showed character, we didn’t give up. So that’s the best thing for me.”
He is building towards the 2029 Women’s Asian Cup and wants a wider pool of players to pick from by then. The squad had been in camp in Kolkata since 18 September, but club commitments, including East Bengal’s AFC Women’s Champions League campaign, kept some players away.
Russia again on Sunday
This was the third meeting between the sides, and India have yet to score. Russia won 8-0 at the Turkish Women’s Cup in 2021 and 2-0 at the Pink Ladies Cup in the UAE in February 2025, so Thursday’s result sits in between.
The teams meet again at the same ground on Sunday, 11 October. Chettri has said he will hand more minutes to his younger players and ask the side to keep its intensity for longer. Holding a team ranked 42 places higher to one goal for an hour is something to build on. Doing it for 90 is the job on Sunday.