C T Online Desk: Bangladesh made history when they secured their maiden win over India during their Group A deciding match of the SAFF Women’s Championship at the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal on Tuesday.
Sirat Jahan Swapna scored a brace while Krishna Rani Sarkar netted once to help Bangladesh clinch a 3-0 win over five-time champions India and end their unbeaten run in this tournament since its inception in 2010.
Bangladesh, ranked 89-place behind India in the FIFA rankings, completely outplayed their opposition throughout the game.
Bangladesh’s previous best result against India was a goalless draw in their group-stage match of the fourth edition of the competition in 2016, when Bangladesh finished runners-up after losing to the neighbouring nation 1-3 in the final.
In the fifth edition in 2019, Bangladesh conceded a 0-4 defeat against India in the semi-finals, while in their other meetings of the tournament, India beat Bangladesh 6-0, 3-0, and 5-1 in the group stage matches in 2010, 2012, and 2014 respectively.
In Tuesday’s match, Shopna opened the account for Bangladesh in the 12th minute before Krishna made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute. Shopna scored her second one in the 53rd minute.
Golam Rabbani Choton’s charges are yet to concede a goal in this edition of the tournament as they earlier defeated Maldives and Pakistan by 3-0 and 6-0 goals, respectively.
Bangladesh will play the first semi-final against Group B runners-up Bhutan on September 16, while India will take on Group B champions and hosts Nepal in the other semi-final on the same day.
