PERTH, Australia (AP) — Manchester United midfielder Hinata Miyazawa scored a hat trick as Japan routed India 11-0 on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals of the Women’s Asian Cup with one Group C match remaining.
The two-time champion has six points from two games. Taiwan beat Vietnam 1-0 earlier Saturday and both teams have three points.
Yuzuki Yamamoto opened the scoring after four minutes. Yui Hasegawa doubled the lead nine minutes later. The Manchester City midfielder then set up Miyazawa to make it 3-0 in the 21st. Miyazawa added her second before Kiko Seike’s penalty made it 5-0 just before the break.
In the second half, West Ham striker Riko Ueki scored a hat trick, Seike grabber her second goal and Maya Hijikata also netted before Miyazawa completed the rout and her hat trick nine minutes from the end.
Earlier, Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal for Taiwan against Vietnam in the 26th minute after Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team that won the last of its three Asian Cup titles in 1981.
On Wednesday, Taiwan lost to Japan 2-0. Vietnam, a 2022 quarterfinalist, beat India in its opener but struggled to threaten the Taiwan defense and failed to record a shot on target.
India is still seeking its first point in the 12-team tournament.
Record attendance continues
Australian organizers said Saturday that the tournament had sold 250,000 tickets. The milestone follows the tournament already breaking the all-time total attendance record, with 92,795 fans at the first 10 matches.
That surpassed the previous record of 59,910 for the 2010 edition in China.
State of play
The top two teams in each of the three groups advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams.
In Group A, Australia, which beat Iran 4-0 on Thursday, and South Korea have already qualified. Australia and South Korea will meet in Sydney on Sunday to determine top spot in the group, where another record crowd is expected.
After back-to-back losses, Iran needs a big win over the Philippines (0-2) on Sunday to have any chance of advancing and qualifying for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
In Group B, defending champion China and three-time winner North Korea are into the quarterfinals after their second consecutive wins in group matches Friday. In opening matches Tuesday, North Korea won 3-0 over Uzbekistan and China beat Bangladesh 2-0.
Group B play concludes Monday in Sydney when North Korea plays China in a match that will decide first place in the group, and Bangladesh takes on Uzbekistan.
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