Futsal – China secured a 3-1 win over a battling Australia in their opening AFC Women Futsal Asian Cup China 2025 Group A tie yesterday.
The win sets up China nicely for their meeting with Chinese Taipei, while Australia will be aiming to bounce back against Uzbekistan.
The game got off to a thrilling start at the capacity-filled Hohhot Sports Centre with China keeper Liu Danping making two brilliant saves to deny Jessica Au and Marianna Tabain, while Yu Ting’s shot was kept out by Australian custodian Sarah Easthope’s sprawling save.
It was end to end action with Liu keeping her side in the game after repelling Amy Barker’s stinging shot from distance in the fourth minute before saving Trudy Camilleri’s shot off a counter-attack.
Although China looked more dangerous going forward, they were faced by an imposing Easthope, who used her physique well to deny Zhan Huimin with Liu later stepping in with a lunging tackle to block Meaghan Mcelligott.
China came close to breaking the deadlock in the 10th minute after Cao Jiayi surged through the centre with only Easthope to beat but the Tongji University student drilled her effort wide.
The goal finally arrived for the hosts in the 14th minute, Zhan striking from close range after Easthope deflected Cao’s initial attempt.
China doubled their lead with less than a minute left of the first half after Su Jiahong’s shot struck Marianna Tabain before sailing past Easthope and into the back of the net.
The intensity picked up in the second half as Australia, having survived Zou Yinglan’s effort from distance which struck the bar, forced Liu to produce a string of saves to deny Gisella Pipino, Claudia Fruscalzo and Meaghan Mcelligott.
Australia’s persistence was rewarded in the 25th minute after Daisy Arrowsmith squared the ball for Alexia Karrys-Stahl to slam home from just inside the arc.
China, however, capitalised on Australia’s lapse in concentration which saw Zhan threading a pass an unmarked Zou, who rifled home a powerful long range effort in the 37th minute to seal the three points.
In the other match of the day, Chinese Taipei produced a convincing display to defeat Uzbekistan 6-1.
Despite going a goal down at the Hohhot Sports Centre, Chinese Taipei hit back strongly to take home all three points.
Having failed to make the most of two early chances, Uzbekistan did not let the next one slip as they broke the deadlock in the fourth minute through Feruza Turdiboeva.
The only Uzbekistan player appearing in a third tournament, the 31-year-old’s effort from beyond the halfway line went through a crowd of players before eluding Chu Fang-Yi in the Chinese Taipei goal.
But the East Asians swiftly drew level through a superb left-footed finish from Su Hui-Chi, who turned her marker on the edge of the area before rifling the ball into the bottom right corner.
Both teams then traded blows as Chu and her counterpart, Nilufar Bakhtiyarova, made some routine saves each, until the contest turned on its head towards the end of the first half.
Chen Min-Huang’ fierce effort was deflected onto the post by Liu Chih-Ling, but the latter reacted quickest to smash home the rebound in the 17th minute.
Two minutes later, Chen surged forward on the break and calmly fired past Bakthiyarova to make it 3-1 to take Chinese Taipei into the break with the advantage.
Chinese Taipei picked up where they left off four minutes into the second half and Chen was instrumental again, as the 22-year-old crossed for Su to tap in her second goal.
At the other end, Uzbekistan found themselves frustrated by tenacious defending as well as custodian Chu, who pulled off three superb stops to deny Safina Rushaniya.
The Central Asians’ push for a goal left them exposed and Chinese Taipei took full advantage to score twice more through Liu Wen-Ling.
Captain Chen Ya-Chun picked off a defender on the right to square for an easy finish by Liu in the 33rd minute, before she added another two minutes later by curling into an empty net from the halfway line after Uzbekistan were caught out at a power play.
The brace capped the 6-1 victory for Chinese Taipei, equalling their biggest-ever win in tournament history, which came against Bangladesh in 2018.
Bahrain
In today’s Group C opener, Bahrain face off against Thailand, the highest-ranked Fifa side in the tournament.
A strong qualifying campaign saw Bahrain successfully make it to second straight finals and become the only West Asian team to qualify.
In charge since 2020, Italian Lino Gomes helped Bahrain achieve a third-place finish at the 2022 West Asian Football Federation Women’s Futsal Championship and glory at the 2022 GCC Games, and will seek to make another breakthrough by progressing beyond the group stage for the first time.
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