KATHMANDU, July 19: Nepal registered a thumping 8–0 victory over Bhutan on Saturday in the ongoing SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship, taking the top spot in the points table. The match was held at the Bashundhara Sports Complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Nepal started aggressively, with Mina Deuba scoring in the very first minute. Samiksha Magar doubled the lead in the 9th minute, and just three minutes later, Mina netted her second goal, making it 3–0. In the 23rd minute, top scorer Purnima Rai added another goal, her eighth in the tournament.
Mina nearly completed her hat-trick in the 27th minute but failed to score in a one-on-one opportunity against the Bhutanese goalkeeper. In first-half injury time, Purnima scored again to make it 5–0 and completed her hat-trick shortly after, raising her total to nine goals in the tournament.
SAFF U20 Championship Final: Nepal to face Bangladesh today
Nepal’s dominance continued in the second half. In the 64th minute, Kusum Khatiwada scored the team’s seventh goal. Just a minute later, Mina finally completed her hat-trick with a close-range finish, sealing the 8–0 scoreline.
This was the second encounter between Nepal and Bhutan in this tournament. In their previous meeting, Nepal had defeated Bhutan 6–1, with Purnima scoring four goals and Senu Pariyar netting two.
Nepal now sits atop the table with 12 points from five matches, edging out hosts Bangladesh, who also have 12 points from four matches, on goal difference. Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka later today and could regain the lead depending on the outcome.
Monday’s clash between Nepal and Bangladesh is shaping up to be the decisive match for the championship title. Bhutan, with three points from five games, is in third place, while winless Sri Lanka remains at the bottom.
Earlier, Nepal had comfortably defeated Sri Lanka 7–0 in their second encounter, repeating their dominant performance from their first meeting, which also ended in a 7–0 win. Nepal’s only loss came in a tightly contested 2–3 match against Bangladesh earlier in the tournament.
