Asian Games 2023, September 19: India gets a mix day on the first day

New Delhi: India’s campaign for the Asian Games 2023, in Hangzhou, China, had a rather mixed start.

India’s win-loss record for the first day remained at 1-1, in the two games they played on Tuesday.

The men in blue started their day strong, with the Indian volleyball team securing a win over Cambodia in the straight sets of 25-14, 15-13 and 25-19.

The lower-ranked Cambodia never looked comfortable in the game, except for the beginning of the third set. But, the Indians made a quick comeback and secured the set and the match.

India will now be playing South Korea on Wednesday, in their second and last group match.

Contrary to the volleyball team, the Indian football team had a nightmare start to the tournament as they lost their first game to the host China by an enormous goal difference of 5 goals to 1.

India, who were forced to stitch a second-string squad at the last minute due to ISL clubs not releasing, coach Igor’s first-choice players, due to the upcoming ISL season 10, which will start on September 21.

The football team who reached Hangzhou, only 18 hours ago and was forced to take part in the match without having any training session, looked rustic on the field, and except for Rahul KP’s exceptional goal in the first half, India never looked threatening enough and was eventually ran over by the Chinese side.

India will now try to forget the horrors of their first match and will turn their focus on their second match against Bangladesh on September 21, to keep their medal hopes alive.