Bangladesh began their title defense with a convincing 3-1 win over Nepal in the SAFF Under-19 Women's Championship match at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur today.

Forward Mosammot Sagorika scored a brace and Munki Akhter netted one goal for Bangladesh while Simran Rai hit one back for last year's runners-up.

Meanwhile, India made a statement in their first match with a 10-0 thrashing of Bhutan.