Football · INDIA

Anushka Kumari

Top scorer (8 goals) at the SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship 2025; received the PMRBP 2025 (Sports); scored 8 more in the AFC U-17 qualifiers, October 2026.

14 when reported in August 2025

Jharkhand · India

Anushka Kumari with her SAFF U-17 award plaque
Image source ↗ · AIFF
Source photograph · credit and provenance below

BEHIND THE RESULT

The achievement

At the SAFF Under-17 Women’s Championship in Thimphu, Bhutan, in August 2025, India striker Anushka Kumari finished as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals as India won the title. On 26 December 2025 she received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in the Sports category; the official citation notes she was one of only five girls from Jharkhand selected for the India Under-17 women’s team.

Form that continued

Her scoring did not stop at the award. In October 2026, in the AFC Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers in Malaysia, she scored five goals in India’s 14–0 win over Iraq, two against Syria and one against Malaysia as India qualified for the 2027 finals. Reports describe a start on a village field near Ranchi, a first coach in her aunt, and a place from 2021 at a free residential training centre in Hazaribagh; those journey details rest mainly on one newspaper feature and are reported as such. Official sources listed her as 14 in 2025, while one feature said 15 — the difference is recorded, not hidden.

A spark to explore

Anushka’s path ran through a coach close to home and then a residential centre that provided coaching, food and a place to stay. What might change in your school or village if every talented child could reach a good coach? That is a question from us, not part of her record.

Source-based story · the activities are prompts for readers.

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The achievement, in context.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

Top scorer (8 goals) at the SAFF U-17 Women’s Championship 2025; received the PMRBP 2025 (Sports); scored 8 more in the AFC U-17 qualifiers, October 2026.

2025-12-26 · Supporting source ↗