Malaysia’s Young Tigress squeezed past cannon-fodder Bangladesh with a 6-1 victory in the Women’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 in Muscat, Oman on Wednesday (Dec 11).   The victory saw the Young Tigress remain in third spot in the Pool A table standings. Malaysia and India share six equal points after three matches following two wins and a loss but the Indians hold a superior goal difference to take second spot.   China slammed the brakes on defending champions India’s winning streak with a 2-1 victory in a tightly contested match late Wednesday. China goes top of Pool A with nine points and confirmed a spot in the semifinal.   Jinzhuang Tan (32nd) and Lihang Wang (42nd) were the goal scorers for China, while Deepika (56^th) scored her seventh goal for India to lead the tournament’s goal scorer’s leaderboard.   Lailin Abu Hassan’s Young Tigress will now need to triple their energy and effort to flay the Chinese on Thursday (Dec 12), and in the process hope Thailand creates the biggest miracle of the tournament by defeating the World No 8-ranked Indians which would then enhance the Malaysians chances of moving into the semifinals.   For the record, China trounced the Thais 8-0, while the Malaysians registered a 3-0 win. However, the Indians are unlikely to have their feathers ruffled by Thailand, ranked 43 in the world, and will go on another demolition exercise, just as they did in the 13-1 win against Bangladesh.   “We achieved our mission of winning three points against Bangladesh. Although we had a slow start the players were committed throughout the match, and gave their best for this win. For our next match against China, the players will need to stay focus throughout 60 minutes of the match and not repeat mistakes that they created against India,” said Young Tigress head coach Lailin.   “The match against China is important. I want the players to maintain a positive attitude and confidence level,” he added. “We must play hard and take our opportunities.”   The Malaysians shrugged off a slow start before taking a 3-0 lead through a hat-trick from Zati Alyani Muhammad Zubir. She converted two penalty corners (8^th and 30^th) and added the third from a field goal (41st).   Nur Iman Adawiyah Mohd Suhaimi (44^th), Nurshamine Azureen Mohammed Badusha (45^th) and Noor Asyiqin Syakirah Noor Hisyam (53^rd) extended the leads for the Tigress from field goals.   Zati Alyani received the Player of the Match award.   Bangladesh scored a goal through Orpita Pal in the 49^th minute via a penalty stroke. The Bangladeshis had earlier suffered humiliating defeats against China (19-1) and India (13-1).   In Pool B matches, Japan defeated South Korea 4-0, and Chinese Taipei crushed Sri Lanka 5-0 to register their first win in the tournament.   The Japanese stayed top of the pool with nine points from three straight wins and qualified for the semifinals stage.  The Koreans are second in the pool on six points following two wins and one loss.   The Koreans take on Hong Kong in the next match while high-riding Japan will play against Chinese Taipei on Thursday (Dec 12) in their last preliminary round fixture.   The top five teams in the ongoing Junior Asia Cup in Oman will secure direct qualification to the 2025 Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile, which will bring together 24 dynamic teams from around the world.