Nepal inch closer to semis

Rekha Poudel and Nirmala Upadhayay struck hat-tricks as defending champions Nepal inched closer to the semi-finals of the AFC U-14 Girls’ Regional Championship Nepal inch closer to semis

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Published at : April 22, 2015

Updated at : April 22, 2015 08:43

Kathmandu

Rekha Poudel and Nirmala Upadhayay struck hat-tricks as defending champions Nepal inched closer to the semi-finals of the AFC U-14 Girls’ Regional Championship with a 10-0 drubbing of Maldives on Tuesday.

The hosts are top of Group A with six points from two games. Apart from Poudel and Upadhayay, Manisha Raut struck twice while Manjali Kumari and Samjhana Lawati also joined in the goal-scoring spree. With two consecutive defeats, Maldives are out of the semi-final race.

Kumari opened the scoring early in the second minute, converting a corner kick from Saru Limbu. Raut doubled the lead two minutes later hammering home a pass from Asmita Baidhya from inside the area. Poudel opened her account in the sixth minute before completing hat-trick with goals in the 12th and 15th. Raut made sure Nepal go into the break with six-goal lead when she converted a pass from Lawati 26th minute. Nepal added four more goals after the break despite Poudel and Raut substituted.

Nepal coach Kishor KC said his side scored comparatively fewer goals after the break. “With six-goal lead, I opted to save the legs of our best players for next game,” said KC. “We are playing three back to back matches and need to be careful with how we use our players. The match was a good experience for my forwards.”

Lawati continued the scoring capitalising on a pass from Saru Limbu to make it 7-0 in the 54th minute. Second half substitute Upadhayay completed her hat-trick with goals in the 57th, 66th and 70th minutes. Nepal play their last group match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Maldives coach Kawamoto Naoko said the match was a learning experience for her team. “We are not used to playing such strong opponents. In fact, these girls had just one selection match prior to the tournament,” said Naoko. In the other Group A match, Iran kept their semi-final hopes alive by hammering Sri Lanka 11-1 at the Nepal Army Physical Fitness Centre in Langankhel. The result means both Iran and Sri Lanka have three points each from two matches.

In the Group B match, Bangladesh joined India in the semi-finals after holding the latter to a 1-1 draw in an early kick off at the Dashrath Stadium. The result of Wednesday’s match between Bangladesh and Bhutan will determine the group winners.