Kings advance to Fed Cup semis

Hot favourites Bashundhara Kings survived a scare to move into the semifinals of Federation Cup with a 2-0 win over Rahmatganj MFS in the second quarterfinal in Gopalganj on Tuesday.

Midfielder Sohel Rana gave a first-half lead before Mfon Sunday Udoh wrapped up the victory for Kings in the second half, ensuring the two-time champions' fifth semifinal berth in the tournament.

Although Kings dominated the encounter overall, the Old Dhaka outfit gave them a run for their money. Kings, however, recovered from early pressure in both halves to stand firm against 2021-22 runners-up Rahmatganj.

Before settling in at Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium, Kings saw Rahmatganj come close to breaking the deadlock twice in 15 minutes, but Gambian Dawda Ceesay and Al Amin missed the target by a narrow margin, much to the relief of goalkeeper Mehdi Hasan Srabon.

With Rahmatganj's backline neutralizing the attacks well, Kings took the lead against the run of play in the 24th minute, courtesy of Sohel Rana who received a cut-back from Robson Da Silva before driving a shot past goalkeeper Mamun Alif.

Then Saad Uddin and Sunday squandered two chances and Rahmatganj did the same later. First, Ghanaian Samuel Mensah Konney shot straight to Srabon after nutmegging defender Tapu Barman in the 43rd minute, and Dawda's powerful low drive was saved by Srabon in stoppage time.

Three minutes into the second half, Konney headed wide of an open net from six yards out to frustrate Rahmatganj, who then saw Sunday double Kings' lead by sending the ball over advancing goalkeeper Alif in the 62nd minute.

Dawda had the opportunity to score a consolation goal for Rahmatganj in extra time, but instead of placing the ball on either side of the Kings goalkeeper, he aimed it straight towards Srabon.