Bangladesh storm into SAFF-16 final

Bangladesh beat strong India by 3-1 goals in their second match to confirm their spot of final at the SAFF U-16 Women’s Championship held today (Tuesday) at ANFA Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal.

With the day’s win, Bangladesh reached top of the table with six points and they will play their ultimate league match against Bhutan on Friday (March 8).

Four teams are participating in round-robin league system tournament. The top two teams will play the final. With the day’s successive victory in the tournament, Bangladesh reached top of the table with six points.

Nepal and India have three points each. Bhutan crashed out of the tournament after losing their two matches. The winners’ between Nepal and India match will be the partner of Bangladesh in the final which will be held on March 10. If the match produces draw result, then there will be another calculation. Bangladesh-Bhutan match will be held just to maintain a formality on March 8 at the same venue.

In the first half of the match, Bangladesh took the lead through a goal by Alpi Akter in the 9th minute.

India however staged a brilliant fight back in the match when Anushka Kumari restored the parity with a shot from the right corner of the box in the 55th minute.

Bangladesh were desperately looking for a lead again and their best moment came in the 78th minute when Sauravi Akanda Prity scored the second goal with a perfect placing shot from the D-box and Arpita Biswas sealed the victory scoring the third goal for Bangladesh from a goal-mouth melee.

Earlier, Bangladesh made winning start in the tournament beating Nepal by 2-0 goals while India thrashed Bhutan by 7-0 goals in their opening match. (BSS)