India went down fighting 0-2 against formidable Australia in their opening group match of the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup football tournament here on Saturday.
Theodora Mouithys put Australia ahead in the 25th minute before Indian defender Abhista Basnett scored an own goal in the 59th minute in the opening Group B match.
India face four-time champions Japan on May 5 before taking on Lebanon on May 8.
It was India’s first appearance at the U17 Women’s Asian Cup since 2005, marking the end of a 21-year wait at this level.
Australia are one of the established football countries in Asia and they have reached the semifinals of the tournament on two earlier occasions.
They will be looking to take one of the four sports for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
The top two teams of each of the three groups and the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarterfinals.
India suffer 0-2 defeat against Aus in AFC U17 Cup
SUZHOU (CHINA), MAY 2 (PTI):