Football

Nepal will be without star forward Sabitra Bhandari ‘Samba’ for their match against Sri Lanka in the SAFF Women’s Championship after she tested positive for dengue.

Bhandari, who scored a brace in Nepal’s 4-0 opening victory over Bhutan on Tuesday, is the highest scorer in Nepali football with 40 goals in 39 games.

Rekha Poudel will replace Bhandari to partner with Amisha Karki to spearhead the Nepal team attack. 

Bhandari was not alone on the team to be affected by dengue. The team’s goalkeeping coach Suraj Moktan is also suffering from the fever.

Earlier, Manjali Kumari Yonjan had missed Bhutan games after being infected with dengue. She is recuperating in the hospital and expected to be discharged on Tuesday.

With Bhutan already securing their place, Monday’s match will complete the semi-final line-ups from Group B. Nepal are currently sitting at the top of the group with three points and net goal difference of four goals.