India out of U-17 Asian soccer

India and Qatar crashed out of the 10th Asian Under-17 football championships, losing their quarter-final matches by identical 1-3 margins to Korea Republic and China respectively, at the Al Wahda stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Korea and China have now set themselves up for a likely encounter in the final on Sunday.

The other two quarter-finals will be played on Tuesday between Uzbekistan and hosts UAE, and Yemen and Syria.

Korea scored a clinical 3-1 victory over surprise package India in Abu Dhabi. However, it was not very easy for the Koreans, who scored their three goals only in the second half.

Shin Young-chol opened the score for the Koreans after a goalmouth scramble in the 50th minute. Substitute Choi Woo-seok's introduction in the second half paid dividends, as he notched up a double to send India out of the tourney.

The efficient Koreans curbed India's attractive football, which was a delight to watch in the preliminary rounds. They limited India to a consolation goal through Jerry Zirsanga in the 82nd minute.

Earlier, in the first quarter-final, China defeated Qatar 3-1 to advance to the last four.

China opened the scoring through Li Chunyu's free-kick in the 18th minute. Striker Jiang Chen then scored to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute.

China were reduced to 10 men in the second half when referee Gosh Ram Krishna of Bangladesh expelled midfielder Liu Qing in the 49th minute for a second offence.

Qatar then narrowed the score to 2-1 with striker Mousa Majid Al Laq scoring in the 63rd minute.

But the Chinese didn't allow the Qataris any more chances and sealed the match with a late goal by striker Mao Jianqing in the 73rd minute.

The tournament features 12 countries. The top three will represent the Asian continent in the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland next year.