KATHMANDU, Sept 9: Sabitra Bhandari scored four goals as the Nepal women’s national football team registered a stunning 8-2 win over Kyrgyzstan in the ongoing Nadezhda Cup in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday.
In its first match of the tournament, Bhandari scored four, while Anita Basnet bagged two and captain Niru Thapa along with Dipa Rai struck one each.
Kyrgyzstan defeats Nepal in semifinal
Bhandari scored the first goal of the game in third minute, while she doubled her tally 12 minutes after that. Kyrgyzstan pulled a goal back in the 19th minute through Boronbekova Aizhan, and equalized three minutes after that with Saskeeva Aiperi scoring for the home side. Just three minutes after the game was tied at 2-2, Rai restored the lead for Nepal, while Bhandari completed her hat-trick in the 30th minute. Also, Basnet scored the fifth goal for Nepal in the 34th minute, while the first half ended with a 6-2 scoreline in favor of Nepal with a goal from Thapa in the 37th minute.
It was all Nepal again in the second half as Bhandari scored her fourth goal in the 54th minute, while Basnet doubled her tally with a goal in the last minute of the injury time.
In the other game played on the same day, Uzbekistan hammered Tajikistan 12-0.
Nepal will play against Uzbekistan in the second game, and will face Tajikistan in its last game on Tuesday.
The top two teams will fight for the title which will be played on September 12.
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