HO CHI MINH CITY: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan assured themselves of semi-final berths in the AFC Futsal Championship on Monday after convincing victories in Group H encounters. Uzbekistan, finalists in 2001, defeated Kuwait 6-2 while Kyrgyzstan made it to the last four stage for the first time by beating Tajikistan 3-0 at the Phu Tho Stadium.

This is the first time two Central Asian countries have qualified for the semi-final stage of the tournament. The Uzbeks, who reached the semi-finals last year, took the lead through the dependable Bahodir Ahmedov in the third minute and Nikolay Odushev doubled the advantage four minutes before half-time. Saidolimhon Sharafutdinov made it 3-0 in the 18th minute and Uzbekistan went into the break with a healthy lead. Anwar Mamedov got into the act for the Uzbeks after the restart but Fawzi Al Mass (36th minute) and Raed Khalf (38th minute) pulled two goals back for Kuwait. Then Aleksandr Korolev unleashed a brace in the death to put Uzbekistan in the semi-finals. “We wanted to win because Kuwait is the strongest team in this group,” said Uzbekistan coach Oleg Ivanov. “We succeeded because we moved very fast throughout the game.’ Kuwait coach Hossein Shams felt the refereeing was not upto the mark in the game. “The refereeing was very bad. But Uzbekistan is a good team.” The other semi-finalists, Kyrgyzstan, were pegged back doggedly by their Tajik rivals in the first period. But a change in tack after the restart saw three goals tallied by Andrey Pestrayakov, Daniar Abdyraimov and Emil Kenjisariev.

This was all the lead the Kyrgyz needed and they preserved it till the end by marking their opponents closely.

“The match was not so easy as it looked because my players were tired,” said Kyrgyzstan assistant coach Arkady Mahmutov. “We will have to change our strategy in the semi-finals against Thailand or Japan.’ The two remaining last four berths will be filled by teams from Group G in which a draw on Tuesday between second-placed Thailand and leaders Japan will see champions Iran exit the tournament which they have won consecutively for the last six years.