Bangladesh make emphatic start

Bangladesh made an emphatic start to their title defence of the SAFF U-20 Women's Championship with a 9-1 win against Sri Lanka at the Bashundhara Kings Arena on Friday.

Peter Butler's charges were thoroughly dominant against Sri Lanka, still regarded as one of the punching bags of South Asian women's football, in the first match of the double round-robin tournament.

With the confidence gained from a historic Asian Cup berth a few days ago, Afeida Khandaker and Co started in an ominous fashion, scoring twice within the first four minutes. However, they were only able to add one more goal in the first half.

The second half, though, was a different affair as Bangladesh added six more goals past the hapless islanders, who managed to pull one back in stoppage time.

Mosammat Sagorika, one of the nine members from the senior team, scored a hattrick while Munki Akter bagged a brace. Shikha Jahan, Rupa Akter, Sapna Rani and Shanti Mardi scored one apiece.

Nepal and Bhutan, the two other teams of the competition, will play later in the day at the same venue.