TAC, NPC record victories

Kathmandu, November 17

Hosts Tribhuvan Army Club and Nepal Police Club recorded victories in the CoAS fifth International Women’s Football Tournament here today.

In the inaugural match played at the Army Headquarters grounds, TAC thrashed Western Region 12-0 riding on Krishna Khatri’s seven goals. Sarmila Thapa scored a brace, while Deepa Rai, Sapana Lama and Anjali Waiba added one goal each for the TAC.

Khatri opened the scoring in the ninth minute and added her second in the injury time of the first half. She then scored in the 58th minute to complete her hat-trick before adding four more goals in the 75th, 81st, 87th and the fourth minute of the injury time.

Thapa found the back of the nets in the 28th and 75th minutes, while Rai scored in the first half injury time. Likewise, Lama and Waiba netted in the 70th and 75th minutes respectively. Khatri was named the player-of-the-match. With the victory, TAC advanced to the quarter-finals and will play against the team from Sikkim, who had a bye in the first round, on Sunday.

In another match played at the Army Physical and Training Centre in Lalitpur, NPC outplayed Mid-western Region 12-0. Nirmala BK netted four goals for NPC and earned the player-of-the-match award. Neeru Thapa and Nirmala Upadhyay scored two each, while Rupa Magar, Yasodha Lama, Bimala Sherpa and Srijana Khadka netted one goal each for the departmental side.

Rupa Magar opened the scoring in the eighth minute and Neeru Thapa doubled the tally two minutes before she scored her second goal of the match in the 29th minute. Nirmala BK scored two goals in either half. She found the back of the nets in the 20th and 24th minutes in the first half and added two more in the 62nd and 67th minutes.

Nirmala Upadhyay scored in the injury time of the first half and added another in the 60th minute, while Yasodha Lama netted in the 39th minute. Bimala Sherpa and Srijana Khadka scored in the 72nd and 77th minutes respectively to complete the rout.

NPC also made it to the last eight with the victory and will face another India team Bihar, who also had the first round bye.

A total of 10 teams — five regional sides, three departmental clubs and Indian teams from Sikkim and Bihar — are competing in the tournament being played under knockout format. Earlier, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Rajendra Chhetri inaugurated the tournament. On Saturday, Far-western Region will face Central, while Nepal APF Club will play against Eastern Region.