A football tournament attended by China, India, Bangladesh and host Myanmar kicked off at the Thuwunna Youth Training Center Thursday evening.

In the first match of the Grand Royal 2005 Challenge Cup football tournament, the Bangladesh selected team (with an average age between 23 and 25) beat the Chinese U-19 team 3-1.

Ariful Kabir Farhad of the Bangladesh team opened the scoring with a header through his teammate Md. Arman's freekick at the 8th minute. Two minutes later, Chinese Su Jingyu equalized it by heading home the ball through a corner kick by captain Huang Bowen.

Ariful Kabir Farhad made his second goal at the 37th minute and the Bangladesh team led the Chinese team 2-1 after the first half.

In the second half, the Chinese players made concerted efforts to equalize the score but failed. The Bangladesh team sealed the victory with substitute Rokonuzzaman Kanchan's goal in the 82nd minute.

The Chinese team leader Feng Jianming told Xinhua before the match that most of his players were for the first time to compete in the international tournament, adding that his team's participation in the Challenge Cup is to prepare for the upcoming AFC U-20 Football Tournament in November in China's Macao.

In the second match of the Challenge Cup, the Myanmar U-23 team thrashed the Indian U-19 team 11-0. Myanmar made half a dozen goals in the first 45-minute.

The Grand Royal 2005 Challenge Cup, sponsored by the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF), will continue up to Nov. 2.

The Chinese U-19 will meet the Indian U-19, while the Myanmar U-23 with the Bangladesh selection team on the second day of the tournament on Saturday.

Source: Xinhua