SINGAPORE WOMEN FALTER IN FIRST ROUND

In the rounds of matches which were played in Bangkok, the Singapore girls beat Maldives 6-0 but conceded a 5-0 loss to Thailand in the second game before losing out 3-0 in their third and final game to Vietnam.

Thailand emerged as the top team in the qualifying group with a 1-0 win over Vietnam, a 5-0 win over Singapore and then a 9-0 whipping of Maldives.

Vietnam was the runner-up where after losing 1-0 to Thailand in the opening game, they improved to beat Maldives 5-0 and then overcoming Singapore 3-0.

But for the second and final round of the qualifiers, both Thailand and Vietnam will have a mountain to climb where they have placed in Group A alongside Asian powerhouse Japan as well as the losing team in the match between Hong Kong and South Korea.

In the second round of the qualifiers in Group B in the meantime, see Australia up against DPR Korea, Chinese Taipei and the winning team from the Hong Kong and South Korea tie.

Only the top team from each group of the final round will represent Asia in the Olympics 2008 which will be held in Beijing.

As host, China qualifies automatically.

SECOND ROUND GROUPINGS

Group A: Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, (losing team between Hong Kong or South Korea)

Group B: DPR Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei, (winning team between Hong Kong or South Korea)