India produced a dominant performance at the 2026 Women’s Junior Asia Cup, thrashing Pakistan 19-0 in their quarterfinal on Thursday to storm into the semifinals and move within two wins of a third successive continental title.
The defending champions took just seven minutes to open the scoring through Puja Sahoo. Roshni Aind doubled the lead two minutes later as India launched a relentless attacking assault.
Tanushree Dinesh Kadu and Sukhveer Kaur scored in the 11th and 13th minutes, respectively, while Sanika Chandrakant Mane also found the net in the 13th minute. Madhu Sidar and Geeta Yadav then added to Pakistan’s woes before Mane scored her second in the 23rd minute.
Tanuja Toppo and Pooja Malik further extended India’s lead, while Purnima Yadav’s 33rd-minute strike gave the defending champions a commanding 10-0 advantage.
India continued their onslaught after the break, with Sidar scoring her second goal in the 39th minute and Supriya opening her account a minute later.
Malik then completed her hat-trick with goals in the 49th and 51st minutes. Krishna Sharma and Binima Dhan added further goals, while Supriya scored again in the 54th minute. Roshni completed the rout with her second goal in the final minute.
India had topped their group after registering victories over Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.
India will face the winner of the South Korea-Malaysia quarterfinal in the semifinals. The reigning champions are now two victories away from a hat-trick of Junior Women’s Asia Cup titles, having won the tournament in 2023 and 2024.
India’s goals: Puja Sahoo (7′), Roshni Aind (9′, 60+’), Tanushree Dinesh Kadu (11′), Sukhveer Kaur (13′), Sanika Chandrakant Mane (13′, 23′), Madhu Sidar (16′, 39′), Geeta Yadav (18′), Tanuja Toppo (25′), Pooja Malik (27′, 49′, 51′), Purnima Yadav (33′), Supriya (40′, 54′), Krishna Sharma (48′), Binima Dhan (55′).
(IANS Inputs)
