Nepal’s Mina Deuba scored a brilliant hat-trick as Nepal thrashed Sri Lanka 7-0 in the ongoing SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship. This marks Nepal’s second win in the tournament, taking their tally to six points from three matches.
Played at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Bangladesh, the match was delayed due to rain but saw Nepal dominate right from the start against a helpless Sri Lankan side.
Mina Deuba opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a powerful shot from the edge of the box. Just five minutes later, Samiksha Magar doubled the lead after converting a loose clearance with a stunning strike from outside the box.
In the 42nd minute, Mina netted her second goal, slotting in a rebound after her initial shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Nepal continued to press forward, and Purnima Rai scored two quick goals in first-half injury time—one from a long-range counterattack and another in a one-on-one situation with the keeper.
Nepal went into halftime with a commanding 5-0 lead.
In the second half, Nepal added two more goals. Mina Deuba completed her hat-trick in the 70th minute, making the most of a deflected pass to place the ball perfectly into the net. The final goal came in added time, as Sarita Kumari Nath long-range free-kick slipped through the Sri Lankan keeper’s hands to make it 7-0.
Nepal had earlier defeated Bhutan 6-1 in their opening match but lost 3-2 to host Bangladesh in their second outing. The team will face Sri Lanka again on Thursday as part of the double round-robin format. The team finishing at the top of the table will be crowned champions.
