Nepal fall to India in SAFF U-18 Women's Championship opener

Nepal lost 7-0 to India as curtains came off the SAFF U-18 Women's Championship in Jamshedpur, India, on Tuesday.

It was a chastening defeat for the Nepali side against the home side who dominated the game from the start at JRD Tata Complex in Jamshedpur.

Cheered by the home crowd, India took the lead through Sujeesh Pottekkat who pounced on after Sabitri Kishan's punch fell straight on her path in the 14th minute. Lynda Kom Serto doubled the lead in the 27th minute when she was fed by Anita Kumari for a simple finish. India made it 3-0 before the break when Lynda added another in the 34th minute meeting on a cross by Ritu Devi from the right.

Nepal's chances of a comeback soon began to diminish when Apurna Narzary made it 4-0 with a cool left-footed finish in the 69th minute. Purnima Kumari, who had represented Biratnagar Metropolitan City in the National Women's League 2077 campaign, then headed in the fifth in the 76th minute on a free-kick. Ten minutes later Sunita Munda capitalized on failure by Nepali defender to clear the ball to make it 6-0.

India thought they had scored the seventh when the ball was put in the net by Anita Kumari but was correctly flagged for offside. They, however, atoned for that and scored the seventh through Nitu Linda in the seventh minute of added time of the game.

Nepal will now face Bangladesh in their second match on March 17.

Three teams―Nepal, India and Bangladesh―are playing in the championship. The championship will be played in a double-round robin format with the team with highest point become the champion.

(Photo courtesy: SAFF)