Iwabuchi's hattrick leads Japan top China 3-0 at EAFF event
Sports Scene
Mana Iwabuchi of Japan celebrates after scoring in the game against China at Eastern Asian Football Federation E-1 Women's Championship at the Busan Gudeok Stadium in Busan, South Korea, December 14, 2019. /Screenshot of CGTN's Sports Scene

Mana Iwabuchi of Japan celebrates after scoring in the game against China at Eastern Asian Football Federation E-1 Women's Championship at the Busan Gudeok Stadium in Busan, South Korea, December 14, 2019. /Screenshot of CGTN's Sports Scene

In the Eastern Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Women's Championship, China lost to Japan by 3-0 margin at Busan Gudeok Stadium in Busan, South Korea on Saturday. The Chinese side was up against their Japanese counterparts after a goalless draw against hosts South Korea on Tuesday. However, Jia Xiuquan's side was once again unable to find the net. 

In the 9th minute, Japan scored the first goal when Mana Iwabuchi sent it through Chinese goalkeeper Peng Shimeng's legs. In 43rd minute, China had a breakaway as Li Ying carried it into the box before her shot was saved. And 30 seconds after that, Zhang Rui lost the ball against the run of play and Yui Hasegawa's through pass found Iwabuchi, who made no mistake in chipping over Peng's head to make it 2-0 at halftime.

10 minutes after the break, Iwabuchi completed her emphatic hat-trick when she tapped in a rebound. Even though the PRC women tried to clinch a consolation goal but all their efforts went in vain as the Chinese side failed to score a single goal in two games in the week-long tournament. They will now face Chinese Taipei on Tuesday.

It is the third time that Korea Republic has been hosting the regional tournament after previously staging the football event in 2005 and 2013. The E-1 Football Championship, previously known as the East Asian Cup, started in 2003 and is a four team round-robin tournament held every two or three years. The competition also gives automatic spots to the top two teams in FIFA rankings, with one remaining spot going to the team that wins the qualifying stage.