Semis line-up: Oman vs Uzbekistan, China vs Chinese Taipei
Fancied China trounced Uzbekistan 6-0 to top Pool A and set up a semifinal clash with Chinese Taipei in the Men's Junior AHF Cup at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC) on Wednesday. The result also confirmed the semifinal line-up with hosts and Pool B topper, Oman, set to face Uzbekistan in the other semis, with both the matches scheduled on Friday.
China, which is one of the title favourites along with Oman, was in no mood to show any complacency against Uzbekistan despite needing only a draw to top the pool.
Oman, coached by Pakistani great Tahir Zaman, had earlier on Tuesday topped Pool B with a 4-1 win over Chinese Taipei. Given the form of the hosts and China, a summit clash is likely to featured both the teams on Saturday.
On Wednesday, China began the goal-fest in the fifth minute through Yaozhen Xu and made it 2-0 two minutes later when Ke
Wen scored. Uzbekistan denied the Chinese any further success and held on till the interval.
However, the third quarter fetched China two more goals, Yonghua He finding the net in the 37th minute and then Ziyang Huang converting a penalty stroke in the 43rd minute.
Yonghua made it 5-0 with ten minutes left and Yaozhen got his double and completed the rout a minute later.
In the other matches on Wednesday that determined the final pool placings, Thailand beat Sri Lanka 4-2 to take third spot in Pool A. Both Iran and Thailand finished with four points each but Thailand edged Iran as it had more goals scored after both teams ended with same goal-difference.
The league engagements finished on Wednesday night with Singapore blanking Hong Kong 6-0 for its first win in the tournament to claim third spot in the four-team Pool B.
After a rest day, the semifinals and the classification matches for seventh to ninth places will be held on Friday.