Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ulaanbaatar: China and Chinese Taipei took the two remaining tickets to the 2016 AFC Futsal Championship as the curtain came down on the East Zone qualifiers on Thursday.
China finished top of the table despite being held to a 3-3 draw by Korea Republic, whose failure to take all three points opened the door for Chinese Taipei to claim the last remaining spot at next year’s finals with a 5-3 win over qualifying hosts Mongolia in the later fixture at the Buyant Ukhaa Sport Palace..
Oh Hyun-jong’s second hat-trick of the tournament following his treble in Korea Republic’s 7-2 win over Hong Kong on Match Day 3 was not enough to give his side the victory they needed to top the table.
Oh’s first came in the 12th minute as the South Koreans’ star striker cancelled out He Yihui’s sixth minute opener before putting his side 2-1 up a minute into the second period with his second of the match and seventh of the qualifiers, having scored two in Korea Republic’s 6-4 loss to Chinese Taipei in their opening fixture on Saturday.
Zheng Wen equalised for China two minutes later before He’s second of the match made it 3-2 two China in the 36th minute and while the irrepressible Oh would equalise two minutes later neither he nor any of his team-mates could add to the scoreline in the remaining two minutes.
The draw left Korea Republic second in the table with seven points - three less than China - and their qualifying fate in the hands of hosts Mongolia, who needed to defeat Chinese Taipei to prevent the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship hosts from finishing second in the standings.
Chinese Taipei, who started the final match day on six points, made the perfect start to the must-win encounter and were 2-0 up inside the first seven minutes courtesy of a brace from Chu Chi-wei (3rd, 7th) as the Chinese Taipei skipper maintained his record of scoring in every match of the East Zone qualifiers.
Tsedenbal Norjmoo reduced the deficit in the ninth minute but goals from Shih Pei Jen (9th) and Huang Po Chun (17th) gave Chinese Taipei a commanding 4-1 lead at the half-time interval.
However, Mongolia, who were out of the qualification reckoning, ensured it was a nervous second period for Chinese Taipei with Tsedenbal Norjmoo scoring his second of the match four minutes after the restart before a 32nd minute strike from skipper Atantulga Pagamsuren brought the scoreline to 4-3.
But with three minutes left on the clock Lai Ming Hui gave Chinese Taipei some breathing space with what ultimately transpired to be the final goal of the qualifiers as the South Koreans missed out on the taking part in the AFC Futsal Championship for only the second time since the inaugural tournament in 1999
China and Chinese Taipei complete the list of participants at the 14th edition of the AFC Futsal Championship shortly after Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan claimed the tickets to next year’s finals from the Central Zone qualifiers.
The top four finishers at the AFF Futsal Championship make up the ASEAN zone’s qualifiers with the quartet of champions Thailand, runners-up Australia and beaten semi-finalists Malaysia and Vietnam joining Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Qatar - who made it through from the West Zone qualifiers - at next year’s finals in Uzbekistan.
All 16 teams are now confirmed for the event with the qualifiers joining champions Japan, Iran, and Uzbekistan - the top three sides at the 2014 AFC Futsal Championship - and Saudi Arabia, the next best team from the West Zone qualifiers who enter the tournament as a replacement for suspended Kuwait.
Kuwait finished fourth at last year’s AFC Futsal Championship and had qualified on account of 2016 hosts Uzbekistan receiving automatic qualification only to lose their place following FIFA’s suspension of the Kuwait Football Association government interference with the football body’s affairs.