JEONJU, South Korea (Kashmir English): Pakistan remained undefeated in the Asian Youth Netball Championship after also defeating the Maldives 49-39 on Tuesday to make their way into the semi-final.
Tuesday’s clash marked the Green Shirts’ fifth and final group match at the Jeonju Hwasan Gymnasium in South Korea, and put them at the top of Pool B with 10 points.
The first quarter was a tough competition with Pakistan scoring 14-12 against the Maldives. The latter, however, dominated in the second quarter to end at 24-26 at halftime.
Pakistan marginally took the lead in the third quarter at 35-32 before ending the match at 49-39.
According to the new format introduced by Netball Asia, the semifinals will be played between the top four teams of both divisions: Group A (Gold Cup Division) and Group B (Plate Cup Division) with cross-group matchups: 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd.
Pakistan will face Japan again in semi-final
Pakistan will face Japan again in the semi-final of the Plate Cup Division on July 3 (Thursday), having previously defeated them 79-39.
Tuesday’s match saw strong performances from Leya Raza Shah, Alisha Naveed, Sumayya Kouser, Haleema, Jasmine Farooq, and Farah Rasheed.
Pakistan opened the tournament with a strong 71-15 victory over Saudi Arabia on Friday, followed by a 56-32 win against Chinese Taipei a day later, and an impressive 91-6 win over South Korea on Sunday.
Eleven teams are participating in the event which will culminate on July 4.
Group A: Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and India
Group B: Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Maldives and Saudi Arabia
