KUALA LUMPUR: Japan sealed first place in Group A of the AFC Under-19 Women's Championship after a comfortable 6-0 victory over India at the MPPJ on Wednesday.

It was Japan's third straight win in the group after difficult victories over DPR Korea (3-0) and Korea Republic (2-1).

Mei Sato and Yuki Nagasato scored two goals each while Nodoka Hosaka and Aya Sameshima also scored.

Japanese oach Morinao Imaizumi praised India's never-say-die courage.

"We have a lot of respect for India, they kept fighting until the end," said Imaizumi. "We love football so it's important to show the respect to the game, opponents, referees and our own team.

"We've had some good experience from these three games and now it's time to prepare for the next match."

Indian coach Harjinder Singh was happy not to have conceded double figures as they did against DPR Korea (14-0) and Korea Republic (11-0).

"We showed an improvement and put up a strong fight," said Singh. "But Japan taught us a lesson in possession football.

"This was a good tournament for India since we have not played against strong teams like Japan, Korea Republic and DPR Korea for a long time."