After contributing six goals, including the winner in the final, and being voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player in the 2015 edition, Karimi has resumed her outstanding form in Thailand with back to back player of the match awards.

The 29-year-old was outstanding in her side’s impressive victories over Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, scoring four goals as Iran advanced to the quarter-finals with imperious ease.

Spectacular futsal and continental silverware in 2015 made the Karimi and her teammates household names in their home country, and the prodigy from the south of Tehran sees the buzz surrounding team as a source of motivation.

The top three finishers from the 2015 edition – Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan and Thailand - have all advanced to the Knockout Stage, with Vietnam joining Asian women’s futsal’s big three as group winners.

They will be joined by two tournament debutants, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei, who finished runners-up in Groups A and B respectively, while China PR and Uzbekistan also earned places in the second round.

A huge Wednesday of quarter-final action gets underway when Iran take on China at Bangkok Arena, with Japan to do battle with Uzbekistan at the same time.

Vietnam will look to continue their perfect record against Indonesia in an all-Southeast Asian affair later that evening, and all eyes will be on hosts Thailand when they meet Chinese Taipei in front of a fervent home crowd at the Huamark Indoor Stadium.

The victorious sides will be back on court in the following day’s semi-finals, with the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2018 to be decided in what promises to be a final to remember on Saturday.

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The reigning champions will now face China PR in Wednesday’s quarter-finals, while Uzbekistan will regroup ahead of their meeting with Japan.

Playing against Shahrzad Mozafar’s team is never easy, but Uzbekistan’s task was made considerably more difficult by the absence of their two specialist goalkeepers, who were both shown red cards in their previous match against Turkmenistan.

Field player Iradahon Turdalieva stepped into the breach and conceded after just 19 seconds when Tanzilya Zarbieva’s attempted block flew into her own net.

Sara Shirbeigi’s deflected effort doubled the lead a minute later and when Fereshteh Karimi fired in a simply unstoppable free-kick, and it was 3-0 to Iran in the blink of an eye.

That signalled the start of Avaz Maksumov’s utilisation of Maluda Munaraova as a floating goalkeeper whenever Uzbekistan took possession of the ball. The ploy worked insofar as the Iranian goal rush temporarily ceased while the Uzbeks enjoyed far more possession.

Iran added a fourth goal when Fatemeh Etedadi pounced on a loose ball after Turdalieva spilled a shot in the 10th minute, before Uzbekistan created some reasonable scoring chances - and one excellent one for Lyudmila Karachik - late in the first half.

Jenjira followed up the goal with an assist for Mutita Senkram seconds later to make it 2-0 with little over a minute played and Thailand never looked back, romping to an 8-0 win to set up a quarter-final meeting with Chinese Taipei on Wednesday.

After Thailand had struggled to find a way to goal against Indonesia in their 1-1 draw on Matchday Two, the 22-year-old said taking such an early lead was a weight off her team’s shoulders.

“Scoring so early was really important,” she said.

“It helped us to stabilise and we didn’t feel under pressure for the rest of the game. That helped us to follow our tactics for the rest of the game.”

The Bangkok local has been part of Thailand’s starting quartet – also featuring Mutita, Hataichanok Tappakun and tournament top-scorer Sasicha Phothiwong – in all three matches so far, and the group was pivotal against Hong Kong, providing the first six goals of the match.