Nepal on Wednesday defeated Maldives 9-0 to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing fourth Saff Women’s Championship in Siliguri, India.

In the second Group ‘A’ match played at the Kanchenjunga Stadium this evening, forward Sabitri Bhandari scored five goals, and Manjali Kumari Yonjan, Sapana Lama, Hira Kumari Bhujel, Nirmala Bikel scored one goal each for Nepal to make semi-final berth certain.

This is Nepal's first victory with the highest goal difference. In the previous matches, Nepal had defeated their rivals 6-0, 5-0, and 2-0.  Nepal will take on Sri Lanka on Friday in their final Group stage match.

In another match today, Sri Lanka defeated Bhutan 2-0.    

Bhandari scored in the 12th, 28th, 39th, 5oth and 63th minute of the match at Kanchanjunga Stadium.

Earlier, Nepal had begun the tournament with an 8-0 crushing of Bhutan.