UNB, Dhaka :
Bangladesh made a winning start in the 3rd SAFF Women’s Football Championship 2014 beating Afghanistan 6-1 at Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday.
Forward Krishna Rani Sarker made a hat-trick scoring three goals in the 36th, 47th and 69th minutes of the match while Maynu Marma, Sabina Khatun and Munmun Akter netted one goal each in 34th, 62nd and 90+5 minutes respectively.
Marjan scored the consolation goal for Afghanistan in the 23rd minute.
Bangladesh dominated the first half by 2-1 goals.
The female booters of Bangladesh and Afghanistan faced each other for the first time in the premier women’s football tournament of the sub-continent.
Bangladesh will play defending champions India on November 15 and wrap up the group commitments on November 17 against Maldives seeking their way to the top of group.
Eight SAARC member countries, split into two groups, are participating in the third edition of the championship.
Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan and Maldives are placed in group A while Group B comprises Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
Two top finishers of each group will meet in the semifinals scheduled for November 19 while the final will be held on November 21.
Earlier, in the last two editions of the championship, Bangladesh reached the semifinals at Cox’s Bazar in 2010 while they were eliminated from the group stage in Sri Lanka in 2012.
