Under-20s eye winning start

Hosts Bangladesh are looking forward to getting off to a winning start in the AFC U-20 Women's Asia Cup Qualifiers when they take on Turkmenistan in their Group H opener at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur today.

As the charges of Golam Rabbani Choton have set their sights on the next round of qualification, they apparently have no alternative but to secure three points in their first match, especially after group favourites Iran beat Turkmenistan 7-1 on Wednesday.

Even though Bangladesh are believed to be favourites for this match, they may face challenge from a physically superior Turkmenistan side.

"Actually, no team is weak and we will try our best to make a winning start," captain Shamsunnar Jr said after a practice session at the match venue. "We watched their first match and made our plan in that regard."

Coach Choton said, "They already have some experience after the first match, so it is not going to an easy encounter for us."