Samakhushi and Shankhamul Futsal won their respective first leg matches of the Red Bull National Futsal League semi-finals on Tuesday.

Samakhushi defeated Kickoff Futsal 4-2 after their skipper Nabin Lama and Shyam Nepali struck two goals apiece. Krishna Malla and Raj Poudel scored one goal apiece for the losing side. Lama was later adjudged the man-of-the-match. The two teams will meet each other in the second leg on Thursday.

In the second semi-finals of the day, Shankhamul proved themselves as title contenders with a crushing 9-1 victory over Tahachal Futsal. Skipper Sanjong Chamling completed a hat-trick in Shankhamul’s comprehensive victory at their home, while Tahachal also gifted their opponents with two ‘own goals’ as Sujit Budhathoki and Anil Tamang scored in their own nets. 

Abhaya Rana scored twice, while Dinesh Rajbanshi and Nirmal Gurung added one apiece for the winning side. Budhathoki atoned for his mistake pulling back the consolation goal for Tahachal. Captain Chamling was ajudged the man-of-the-match. Tahachal will have a Herculean task to overturn the eight-goal deficit when the teams meet in the second leg on Friday.

Out of the 16 futsals from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, four teams had made it to the semi-finals following the double legged quarter-finals in the home and away tournament that carries a cash purse of one million rupees for the winners. The participating teams were divided into two groups who also played a double round robin league.

The runners-up will take home Rs 500,000, while the best player and goalkeeper will get Rs 50,000 apiece. The tournament is organised by AMA Events, an event management company.