First Goals, First Win: SDAT Tiruvannamalai Break the Duck in Rela Hospital Tamil Hockey League
Tamil Hockey League 2026 · Women's League · W4 · SDAT Tiruvannamalai 2–0 SDAT Pudukottai · 10 September, SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, Egmore
Three matches into this competition, the story on this site was a hard one: "Sixteen goals, fifteen to two teams. The THL Women's League has a balance problem." Two strong sides, two that couldn't live with them, and one fixture left where both teams walked out level — nothing to lose but last place. That fixture was W4, and it finally gave the tournament what it had been missing: a women's match where nobody knew the score before the whistle.
SDAT Tiruvannamalai won it 2–0 — and with it took their first goals, their first clean sheet and their first points of the tournament.
The match
It was, as the earlier piece guessed it might be, "tight, low-scoring, decided by one moment" rather than the landslide the two fragile defences threatened. Swathi Sharma S opened the scoring — Tiruvannamalai's first goal in three attempts, and worth the wait. Mathusri V, who had been named the standout player in TVM's opening-day defeat to SHE Chennai, added the second. Two field goals, a back line that finally held, and a scoreline that stayed exactly where it was.
For SDAT Pudukottai it was a third straight defeat. Their tournament now reads: 0–8, 1–3, 0–2. One goal scored, thirteen conceded, and — mathematically, with SHE and SRM clear at the top — no way back to the title.
Result & scorers
SDAT Tiruvannamalai (2) | SDAT Pudukottai (0) | ||
Swathi Sharma S | FG | — | |
Mathusri V | FG |
⭐ Star of the Match — Swathi Sharma S (7), SDAT Tiruvannamalai — opened the scoring in her side's first win.
Watch the replay:
Women's League table — after W4
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
1 | SHE Chennai | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 6 |
2 | SRM IST | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 3 |
3 | SDAT Tiruvannamalai | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
4 | SDAT Pudukottai | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 |
SRM IST and SDAT Tiruvannamalai are level on points — but SRM's +8 to TVM's −2, with a game in hand, tells you which way that sits.
The stats story
The two-tier league held — but the gap at the bottom closed. Through three rounds, SHE Chennai and SRM IST had scored 15 of the tournament's 16 goals. W4 didn't disturb the top: it rearranged the bottom. Tiruvannamalai now have as many points as SRM and twice the goals of the whole rest of the lower half combined.
The Women's League by the numbers, after W4 | |
Goals | 18 in 4 matches (4.5 a game) |
Clean sheets | 3 — SRM IST (W1), SHE Chennai (W2), SDAT Tiruvannamalai (W4) |
Teams still without a win | 1 — SDAT Pudukottai (P3) |
Goals by SDAT Pudukottai, all tournament | 1 |
Biggest win | still SRM IST 8–0 SDAT Pudukottai (W1) |
Women's Golden Stick — after W4
# | Player | Team | Goals |
1 | Suba Sri S | SRM IST | 3 |
1 | Vairavi M | SRM IST | 3 |
3 | M Jothilakshmi | SHE Chennai | 2 |
3 | Soniya S | SRM IST | 2 |
3 | R Mumanja | SHE Chennai | 2 |
The two SRM IST hat-trick heroines from the opening day still lead. But SHE Chennai's M Jothilakshmi is the one to watch — she has scored in every match her team has played, and her team has the two biggest games of the tournament still to come.
What's left
Date | Match | |
Fri 11 Sep, 3:30 | W5 · SRM IST v SDAT Tiruvannamalai | SRM expected to move to six points and level SHE |
Sat 12 Sep, 3:30 | W6 · SRM IST v SHE Chennai | the Women's Final in all but name — title on the line |
Everything now points at Saturday afternoon. SRM IST and SHE Chennai are the only two sides yet to lose, they have not conceded a goal to anyone who matters, and by the fixture's own design they meet in the last game either of them plays. Whoever wins it is champion. It kicks off at 3:30 PM, before the men's final under the lights — one afternoon, two trophies. W4 was the day the competition finally produced a contest. W6 is the day it produces a champion. Follow the Action
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Stadium entry is free for all. Tamil Hockey League 2026 — All for Hockey, Hockey for All. Presented by Rela Hospital · Live broadcast by i1 Sports · Organised by Hockey Tiruvallur.
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