Class IX Tribal Student Arthi From Asifabad Gets Rare Chance To Play With Messi
Arthi was selected for the RR-9 Singareni team based on her performances in State and national-level matches. She plays as a striker in the forward line: Report
ADILABAD: Football player Chouhan Arthi, 15, a Class IX student of the Tribal Welfare Residential School at the district headquarters of Komaram Bheem Asifabad, got a rare opportunity to play as a member of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s team against football icon Lionel Messi in a match held in Hyderabad on December 13. She was part of the RR-9 Singareni team.
Arthi was selected for the RR-9 Singareni team based on her performances in State and national-level matches. She plays as a striker in the forward line.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Arthi said she was deeply inspired by playing alongside Lionel Messi and described the experience as overwhelming. “Playing with Messi is a rare and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said, adding that she was “on the moon” when she shook hands with him and passed the ball to him during the 20-minute match.
She expressed her ambition to represent the Indian women’s football team and said she has been training rigorously since joining the football academy run at the Tribal Welfare Residential School for Girls in Asifabad.
Arthi said she developed an interest in football while studying in Class V after joining the Tribal Welfare Residential School and was later selected for the academy at the school.
She thanked the Chief Minister for providing her the opportunity, describing it as a major encouragement to young players and sports development in the State.
Arthi said her father, Eshwar, is a tractor driver, while her mother, Veena, is a homemaker who also works in their agricultural fields at Ranapur Thanda near Chincholi in Nirmal district.
She is currently undergoing training under football coach Sappidi Ravikumar at the academy. The State government is running sports academies for various disciplines in government residential schools across Telangana.
Earlier, Arthi represented Telangana in the under-14 and under-17 categories of the National School Games Federation tournaments held in Ranchi, Jharkhand, and Kashmir in 2023 and 2024, respectively. She was also selected as the best player in the Telangana Women’s Football League.
Her coach, Ravikumar, said Arthi had earned a rare opportunity to play with Messi and expressed confidence that she would one day represent the Indian women’s football team. He added that she trains and plays matches both in the morning and evening at the football academy in Asifabad.
