Nepal passed the first round hurdle of the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Qualifier for the first time with a 9-0 drubbing of Pakistan in their last Group ‘B’ match at the Chonburi Stadium in Thailand on Sunday.

Nisha Thokar slammed a hat-trick as Nepal finished the pool as runners-up to Thailand despite tying on equal six points with the hosts and India. Thailand finished on top by virtue of scoring the highest three goals among the teams tied on six points. Nepal finished second thanks to the same rule with two goals to their credit. India, who beat Thailand 1-0 on Sunday, ended up third with one goal scored among the three teams. Pakistan returned home without a single point.

Nepal had opened their campaign with a 3-0 loss to Thailand before bouncing back with a 2-0 win over India. In the last AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in 2004, Nepal crashed out of the group stage without even earning a single point.

Despite the big-margin win Nepal coach Hari Om Shrestha was still unhappy with his team’s finishing. “We should have scored more goals and the absence of our key striker Rekha (Paudel) was partly the reason for the shortcoming,” said Shrestha.

Pakistan coach Mohammad Siddique Shiekh was pleased with the performance from the team who had hardly any preparations. “Nepal took us lightly after drubbing us 12-0 in SAFF U-18 Championship but we did not concede too many goals today,” said Sheikh adding victory was never on the cards for his side.

The Qualifier offers winners from all six groups and two best second-placed teams places in the second round Qualifier. Thailand also hosts the tournament proper and are therefore assured of a place in the Finals irrespective of their results in the Qualifier. So the runners-up in the group  Nepal are automatically assured of a place in the second round.

Top four teams from the second Qualifier will join Japan, North Korea and China for the Finals along with the hosts Thailand. The second round qualifier is slated for April 22-30 with the venue yet to be decided.

Apart from hat-trick from Thokar, Puja Rana scored twice against Pakistan while Manjali Kumari Yonjan, Samjhana Lawati, Alisa Jimba and skipper Saru Limbu also joined in the goal-scoring spree. Nepal did not even actually needed the service of their prolific striker Rekha Paudel, who was serving a one-match suspension for double bookings. Paudel alone had scored seven goals against the same opponent during the SAFF U-18 Championship on September 28 in Bhutan.

Nepal made their intentions clear with their offensive approach and were on scoresheet early in the second minute. Yonjan opened the scoring capitalising on a defensive error from Pakistani defenders. Lawati doubled the tally in the

32nd before Jimba added another in the 37th minute as Nepal headed into break with a 3-0 lead.

Nepal intensified their attacks after the break with Rana grabbing a quick double, scoring her first in 48th and the second in the 54th. Thokar also joined the goal-feast in the 57th minute converting from a freekick before adding to her tally from spot kicks in the 74th and 85th minute. Skipper Limbu completed the rout of Pakistan with the ninth goal one minute from time.