Nepal´s meeting was confirmed on after Afghanistan topped group A on Wednesday following 8-1 routing of Bhutan in its group match.[break]
India which finished runner up of same group defeated Sri Lanka 3-0.
India will take on group B winner Maldives on Friday´s first semifinal.
Afghanistan despite having equal seven points as that of India, topped the group on the basis of goals superiority.
Afghanistan has nine goals and India eight goals. Afghanistan scored 12 and conceded three goals while India scored nine and conceded one goal.
Nepal has secured semifinal berth as the runner up of group B.
Shrestha to be discharged today
Nepali national team´s left back Rabin Shrestha will be discharged from hospital on Thursday.
Shrestha was hospitalized after he collided with a Pakistani player during their Nepal´s 1-1 in SAFF Championship on Tuesday.
According to Nepali team´s physiotherapist Dejib Thapa, Rabin is in normal condition.
"There is no injury on head but his jaw is swollen. It will be known only on Friday whether he will play against Afghanistan or not," said Thapa.
Similarly, striker Jumanu Rai, midfielder Bijay Gurung and defender Sandip Rai who had picked minor injuries are also recovering.
"All three players are recovering and they will be fit to play on Friday," Thapa said.
Birgunj Youth retains top spot
Birgunj Youth Academy retained the top spot in the Martyrs Memorial Red Bull B Division League on Wednesday 4-1 thumping over Tusal Youth Club at the Nepal Police Academy, Maharjagunj.
Krishna Shakya completed hat-trick in Birgunj´s victory while Satrudhan Chaudhary added another. Shakya opened the scoring for Birgunj in the 41st minute and Chaudhary doubled the advantage one minute before the interval. Shakya netted his second individual goal in the 59th minute and completed hat-trick in the 78th minute. Pravash Kumar Lama hit the consolation for Tusal in the third minute of stoppage time. [break]
Unbeaten Birgunj has 15 points from seven matches with four wins and three draws. Tushal has 11 points.
In another match between the relegation battlers, Boys Sports came from two goals deficit to defeat Mahabir Club 4-2 which saw the latter drop at the bottom of the table. Santosh Ghale had give third minute win to Mahabir and Kamal Gurung doubled the tally in the eighth minute.
But Krishna Malakar scored a hat-trick for Boys Sports and Saroj Gurung scored another. Malakar opened scored the first for Boys Sports in the 38th minute and Gurung added another in the 42nd to level the score 2-2. Malakar netted his second goal in the 47th and completed hattrick in the 66th minute.
With its first win, Boys Sports climbed 13th place with four points while bottom placed Mahabir has three points.
WMMC, Mitra Milan triumph
Workers Martyrs Memorial Club (WMMC) of Makwanpur and Mitra Milan Club of Sunsari on Wednesday started the super league matches of Regional A Division Red Bull Football Tournament on a winning note being held in Duhabi, Sunsari.
WMMC defeated Sainik Youth Club of Jhapa 2-0. WMMC netted both the goals after the interval following a goalless stalemate in the first half. Mandip Singh Basnet opened the scoring in the 52nd minute and Siddhi Shrestha sealed the victory in the 67th minute. Scorer Banset was adjudged the man-of-the-match.
In another match, Mitra Milan came from behind to register a 2-1 win over Sangam Youth Club of Kaski 2-1. The man-of-the-match adjudged Lile Magar emerged the hero in Mitra Milan´s victory. Magar scored in the 22nd minute to cancel Sangam´s lead taken by Kiran Gurung in the eighth minute. Magar doubled the tally two minute into second half and ensured the team´s victory.
The winner and runner up of the tournament will qualify to participate in the National League to held from December 29. The national league will be participated by 10 teams, including top eight teams of the Martyrs Memorial Red Bull A Division Football League.
Sangam will take on Sainik and WMMC will play against Mitramilan on Thursday.
Yeti Himalayan off to India
Yeti Himalayan Sherpa Club left Kathmandu on Wednesday to participate in the 22nd Meghalaya Invitational Football Tournament to be held in Shillong, India.
Yeti Himalayan has received a bye in the first round of the tournament and will play its first match on Friday.
Nobel wins title
Nobel Academy won the title of the Second KIST Inter College Girls´ Basketball Tournament on Wednesday. Nobel pulled a 30-28 victory over NASA International College in the final match played on the court of KIST College.
Sneha Shrestha scored 16 runs for Nobel Academy.
Stage all set for Nat´l Boxing
Lalitpur District Boxing Association claimed that the stage is all set for the Third National Boxing Championship.
The association, organizing a press meet on Wednesday, informed that the 5-day tournament will kick off on Tuesday (December 13).
According to the association´s secretary Prakash Thapa Magar, the championship includes 10 and seven weight categories respectively in men´s and women´s sections.
The winner of each category will receive Rs 5,000 while runner-up will bag Rs 3000.
Double delights for Whitefield
Host Whitefield started the Fourth Whitefield Valley-wide Inter School Basketball Tournament with victories in both junior and senior boys´ categories on Wednesday.
Whitefield defeated Intensive 23-12 in junior categories while Whitefield thrashed Radiant Readers 30-15 in senior boys´ section. Siddhartha Vanasthali, The Excelsior and Neric won their respective matches on Wednesday in senior boys´ category.
Vanasthali defeated Angels Heart 29-18, Excelsior eased past North point 47-28 and Neric pulled a 47-24 vicotry over Deneb. In junior section, Angels Heart beat Arunodaya 24-17 while Neric edged past Greenfield 30-20.
Gyanodaya, Gyan Shikha in semis
Host Gyanodaya International Residential School and Gyan Shikha entered into the semifinal of the Inter School Boys Football Tournament of the 18th Eicher-Gyan Carnival. Gyanodaya defeated GEMS 2-1 in the home ground.
Roshan Shrestha scored both the goals for Gyanodaya while Suresh KC scored the consolation goal for GEMS. Meanwhile, Gyan Shikha thrashed Chelsea 9-0 as Ganesh Gurung scored four goals. Pradeep Maharjan scored two goals while Nabin, Ujjwal and Sashin added a goal each.
AIA, Neric in QF
Neric and the ´A´ team of the host Awareness International Academy (AIA) booked quarterfinal berths in the junior boys´ section of the Second Tenda-AIA Inter School Basketball Tournament.
AIA ´A´ beat Innovative 26-18 while Neric thrashed Opel 28-9. Likewise, Odyssey defeated Deneb 30-20, Mount Glory eased past 37-20, defending champion Gauri Shankar beat Teresa Academy 32-14, Greenland struggled past AIA ´B´ 16-14 and Golden Peak beat New Summit 16-8 to enter quarterfinal of the junior boys´ section.
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