HO CHI MINH CITY: Palestine and Iraq became the first teams to book their berths in the Plate competition semi-finals of the AFC Futsal Championship on Tuesday. Palestine defeated Qatar 12-4 in Group I and Turkmenistan thrashed Guam 8-1 in the other inconsequential group encounter. In Group J, Iraq maintained their perfect record with their third consecutive win 10-4 over Bhutan. Hosts Vietnam defeated the Philippines 4-2.

Two hat-tricks flowed from Palestinians Refat Rabee and Mohammed Hassnain and combined with a brace from Hassan Hutut buried Qatar. Other contributors to the winning scoreline were Mustafa Yasin, Ahmed Abdalhadi, Nader Al Hajjar and Hazem Al Hajjar.

Qatar lost Rashid Al Dosari to a red card in the 31st minute but not before he had scored a goal. Aziz Al Kuwari’s brace and Khalifa Hilal’s solitary effort also reduced the margin. “My boys played unselfishly and showed team spirit,” said Palestine coach Jamal Harb. “Our improvement is there for all to see.” Palestine ended their group campaign on top of the heap with nine points. Turkmenistan’s Agajan Resulov scored five goals and Yilham Ilmuradov scored a brace while Tumur Husainov scored one goal in their win over Guam who pulled one back through Elias Merfalen. Bhutan tied the score 3-3 in their match against Iraq but had no answer when their rivals clicked up a gear and fired in seven more. For Iraq, Abdul Karim Radi scored a hat-trick while Yasir Jabir and Wameeth Kamil hit a brace each with individual goals coming from Zaid Naji, Waleed Mohammed and Zaman Safi.

Sonam Tenzin netted a double for Bhutan and Passang Tshering and Perna scored one each. “We got a scare in the first half but we played really well in the second,” said Iraq coach Kadhem Khamas. “I am really pleased with this win and we hope to do well in the semi-finals.”