Asian Games 2018: Before the start, it’s all but over for India handball squad

As per the sports ministry’s guidelines, teams who were ranked among the top 8 in Asia were eligible to compete in the Asiad. The handball team had finished 12th in the Asian Championship earlier this year, which ruled them out for the Games. But HFI secretary Anandeshwar Pandey used his clout in the Asian Handball Federation to get the team in the draw, with the IOA claiming this was done without their knowledge. Pandey, also the IOA treasurer, then claimed since Australia (who too compete in Asia), Uzbekistan, China, Oman, and UAE had pulled out of the Asian Games, India were ‘effectively ranked seventh, which meant the team met the criteria.’ The federation put forth this argument in front of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, who left the decision to the IOA. The Olympic body’s legal cell saw merit in HFI’s ranking claim, and gave them the green signal to compete.

However, after two defeats in as many matches, they will now hope for a miracle in the final group matches on Friday. And even that might not be enough for them to stay in contention.

Unified Korean women’s basketball team wins Three North Korean basketball players were part of a unified Korean women’s basketball team that defeated Indonesia 108-40 on Wednesday at the Asian Games. South Korean player Park Hyejin said center Ro Suk Yong, guard Jang Mi Gyong and guard Kim Hye Yon joined nine others from the South to form the unified team last month. “The joint training period that we have to go through ahead of the Games was very short and this is certainly a particular challenge for us, but that was not an obstacle because we are all very happy with this unification,” Park said.