LALITPUR, MARCH 12
Nepal registered their second straight victory and booked a berth in the second round of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers today.
The Nepali women's team thrashed Northern Mariana Islands 6-0 at the Faisal Al-Husseini stadium in West Bank, Palestine to finish as group winners and advance to the second round. Dipa Shahi and Sarah Bajracharya scored two goals each for Nepal, while Saraswati Hamal and Jenifer Rana netted one apiece.
In the last match of the first round, Shahi opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the match before Bajracharya doubled the tally two minutes later.
Shahi scored her second goal of the match in the 19th minute to make it 3-0.
Hamal extended the lead in the 30th minute before Bajracharya made it 5-0 with her second goal of the match moments before the first half whistle. After the break, Rana found the back of the nets in the injury time to complete the victory.
Nepal had defeated home team Palestine 6-0 in the first match riding on four goals from Deepa Shahi. Nepal accumulated six points to finish at the top of Group B. Hosts Palestine earned three points, while Northern Mariana Islands lost both matches in the three-team competition. The United Arab Emirates pulled out of the qualifiers at the last moment.
The winners of all eight groups in the first round Qualifiers will advance to the final qualifiers, which will send top four teams to the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup to be held in Uzbekistan in March next year. Hosts Uzbekistan, top three teams from 2019 edition - Japan, North Korea and South Korea - have already booked their places in the tournament.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 13, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
