SYDNEY: The Chinese women’s under-23 football team put a difficult two weeks behind them by beating Thailand 6-1 on Friday in an Asian qualifying match for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Chinese side had only arrived in Sydney on Thursday after being quarantined in their Brisbane hotel for almost two weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak in their homeland.

The disease prompted officials to hastily reschedule all six pool games, which included matches against Australia and Taiwan.

Four Chinese players were also forced to remain at home, including their 2018 Asian Football Confederation player of the year, Wang Shuang.

Li Ying and Tang Jiali both scored twice Friday, while Zhang Xin, and Wang Shanshan also scored to all but end Thailand’s shot at qualifying for Tokyo.

China next face Taiwan in the first of a doubleheader involving Australia and Thailand at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in western Sydney on Monday.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2020