GEMS, LA, St Xavier’s advance

Lalitpur, June 19

GEMS, Little Angels and St Xavier’s School advanced to the semi-finals of the Toffichoo Junior Champions Cup here at the National Sports Centre today.

In the quarter-final matches of the U-12 category, GEMS defeated South Point 3-0, while LA outplayed Pushpasadan School 6-3. Likewise, St Xavier’s won on penalty shootout against Nepal Tara to make it to the semis. Premier will take on Rato Bangala in the last quarter-final match on Wednesday.

Earlier, GEMS defeated Nightingale 5-0 in the opening match of the tournament and returned to thrash LA 6-2 on their way to finishing first in Group A. LA came second with a 5-1 victory over Nightingale. Similarly, Rato Bangala and Nepal Tara were the top two teams in Group B, while Pushpasadan and South Point progressed from Group C at the expense of AVM on goal difference after all three teams were tied on three points. St Xavier’s and Premier made it to the quarters from Group D.

At the Baneshwor Futsal, Olympia entered the semi-finals with a 1-0 win over Apple. In other quarter-finals, Pushpa Batika will play against Vidhya Sanskar, while Rajarshi Gurukul face KVS, and Rosebud take on KTM Pragya Kunja.

Earlier, Pushpa Batika topped Group A finishing ahead of Apple International, while Rajarshi Gurukul and KTM Pragya Kunja were top two teams in Group B respectively. Likewise, Olympia and Vidhya Sanskar qualified from Group C, while Rosebud won Group D and KVS finished runners-up.

A total of 12 teams each participated in two venues and they were divided into four groups. Similar tournaments will also be held in two more venues — Grassroot Futsal and Samakhusi Futsal. The winners of all the venues will make it to the semi-finals of the tournament which will be held at Grassroot Futsal. The final is slated for June 22.

A total of 105 school teams are taking part in the four-day tournament that features two categories — U-12 and U-14. Earlier, former national team skipper Hari Khadka inaugurated the tournament sponsored by Toffichoo, the confectionery brand of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd.