Khemara midfielder Kim Song-U (centre) celebrates after scoring against Tatung on Saturday. Photo by: AFC/Stanley Chou.

KUCHING, Malaysia: A hat-trick from DPR Korea import Choe Ung-Chon enabled Cambodian club Khemara trounce Chinese Taipei’s Tatung 5-1 and book a semi-final berth from Group A in the AFC President’s Cup here on Saturday. The game was postponed on Friday because of a water-logged pitch and that proved fatal for Tatung. The Chinese Taipei club, however, took the lead in the 12th minute through Hsu Che-Hao but Khemara dominated the proceedings after the restart. DPR Korea’s midfielder Kim Song-U restored parity for Khemara in the 56th minute and Choe netted first of his three goals three minutes later to make it 2-1. He went on to add two more in the 72nd and 77th minutes while Kosal Keo added fifth in the injury time. "Khemara were better prepared. My players could last for only 30 minutes," said Tatung coach Chiang Mu-Tsai. "We were certainly not prepared for a morning match. But I don't want to offer any excuses either." "It is always good to win by so many goals but this was totally surprising. We've achieved the first target, which was to qualify for the semifinals," said an elated Khemara manager Lors Salakhan.