Review of India’s past performance in Asian Games Volleyball (1958-2010)

India will look to better their 2010 performance this year

Volleyball was introduced in the year 1958 in Tokyo Asian Games. Women event started in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. Though India has won only three medals in volleyball, it still is a strong team to beat.

Indian performance at 1958 Tokyo Games

In 1958, only 5 nations participated in the Men’s volleyball competition. The tournament was played in league format.

India defeated Philippines and Hong Kong but lost to Japan and Iran. Thus India settled with Bronze in the inaugural event in 1958.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
25 May	Hong Kong	0–3	India	10–15	12–15	13–15			35–45
27 May	India	1–3	Iran	14–16	11–15	15–9	8–15		48–55
30 May	India	3–0	Philippines	15–3	15–9	15–1			45–13
31 May	Japan	3–1	India	16–14	15–13	5–15	15–10		51–52

1962 Asian Games

In 1962 at Jakarta, 9 teams participated in the indoor event. India was placed in Group B along with Burma and Cambodia. India qualified in the championship round as group champions. In the championship round, India defeated Pakistan, Indonesia, South Korea and Burma, but lost to Japan. India settled with Silver Medal in 1962 Asian Games Volleyball.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
25 Aug	India	3–0	Burma	15–9	15–3	15–10			45–22
27 Aug	India	3–0	Cambodia	15–10	15–6	15–5			45–21
29 Aug	India	3–2	Pakistan	15–13	8–15	13–15	16–14	15–7	67–64
30 Aug	India	3–0	Burma	15–3	15–8	15–11			45–22
31 Aug	India	2–3	Japan	15–9	6–15	15–9	8–15	12–15	56–63
01 Sep	Indonesia	1–3	India	9–15	15–13	4–15	8–15		36–58
02 Sep	India	3–0	South Korea	15–12	15–13	17–15			47–40

1966 Asian Games

In 1966 Asian Games at Bangkok, 12 Nations participated. India was placed in Pool A along with Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. India won all the matches in Group Stage and qualified for Championship Round. In the Championship Round, India defeated Indonesia and Thailand but lost to Japan, South Korea and Iran, thus India finished Fourth in 1966 Asian Games Volleyball.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
10 Dec	India	3–1	Philippines
11 Dec	India	3–0	Malaysia	15–2	15–3	15–9			45–14
12 Dec	Thailand	0–3	India
13 Dec	India	3–2	Indonesia
15 Dec	India	1–3	Iran	10–15	15–6	6–15	14–16		45–52
16 Dec	India	3–0	Thailand
17 Dec	India	0–3	Japan
18 Dec	India	0–3	South Korea

In 1970 Bangkok Asian Games, India finished 5th.

1974 Asian Games

1n 1974 Asian Games at Teheran, 8 Nations participated in the indoor event. India was clubbed with Japan, China and Philippines in Pool A. India lost to Japan and China and was knocked out in Group Stage. India defeated Kuwait and Philippines in classification round and finished 5th.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
02 Sep	India	0–3	China	3–15	6–15	5–15			14–45
04 Sep	Japan	3–0	India
06 Sep	India	3–1	Philippines	8–15	15–2	15–3	15–9		53–29
08 Sep	India	3–0	Kuwait	15–4	15–2	15–6			75–12
11 Sep	India	3–1	Philippines

Poor outing in 1978 Bangkok Games

In 1978 Asian Games at Bangkok, India showed one of their worst performances in Asian Games Volleyball as they finished a disappointing 7th place. In 1982 Asian Games at New Delhi, India showed a much better performance but missed out a podium finish as they ended at 4th Place.

Bronze at the 1986 Asian Games

In 1986 Asian Games at Seoul, 12 nations participated in Volleyball Men’s event. India was placed in Pool A along with South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Indonesia, Hong Kong. India finished the group stage with 9 points behind South Korea thus qualifying for the final round. In the final round, India lost to South Korea and China, but defeated Japan to ensure Bronze Medal in 1986 Asian Games Volleyball.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
21 Sep	India	3–0	Hong Kong	15–6	15–4	15–5			45–15
22 Sep	India	3–0	Bahrain	15–2	15–4	15–8			45–14
23 Sep	Saudi Arabia	1–3	India	8–15	6–15	15–12	7–15		36–57
24 Sep	India	3–0	Indonesia	15–10	15–5	15–5			45–20
25 Sep	South Korea	3–0	India	15–9	15–11	15–5			45–25
01 Oct	India	3–0	Japan	15–8	15–11	15–6			45–25
02 Oct	South Korea	3–0	India	15–2	15–8	15–11			45–21
04 Oct	India	0–3	China

In 1990 and 1994 Asian Games India did not participate in Volleyball event.

Seventh place finish at the 1998 Asian Games

1998 Asian Games at Bangkok saw 10 nations participating in volleyball competition. India was placed in Group A along with Japan, China, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. India defeated Kazakhstan and Pakistan, but lost to China and Japan, thus India’s dream of a podium finish ended. In the classification matches, India lost to Indonesia, but defeated Kazakhstan to finish 7th.

India	0 – 3	China	9-15 7-15 11-15
India	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	15-11 15- 7 15- 9
India	3 – 0	Pakistan	15- 4 15- 7 15-11
Japan	3 – 0	India	15- 3 15- 4 15- 6
Indonesia	3 – 0	India
India	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	15- 6 15- 0 15-11

In 2002 Asian Games at Busan, 9 nations participated in Volleyball Competition. This time the teams were seeded based on their final ranking at the 2001 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship. India was placed in Group A along with South Korea, Iran, Macau and Qatar. India was knocked out in Group Stage, however by winning the classification matches, India finished 5th in Volleyball Competition.

Worst performance in 2006 Doha Games

In 2006 Asian Games at Doha, 13 teams enlisted their names, however, Indonesia and Turkmenistan withdrew later on. Due to scheduling conflicts with 2006 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, China, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan and South Korea alongside the host team Qatar qualified directly to the quarterfinal stage. The remaining teams were seeded based on their final ranking at the 2005 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship. India and Thailand, the next top two teams started the competition from the preliminary round. India finished 9th, their worst ever performance in Asian Games Volleyball.

2010 Asian Games

In 2010 Asian Games at Guangzhou, 18 nations participated in volleyball events. India was placed in Group B along with South Korea, Kazakhstan and Vietnam in Preliminary Round. India defeated Kazakhstan and Vietnam, but lost to South Korea. However, India qualified for second round along with South Korea. In Second Round, India was placed in Group F along with South Korea, Japan and Qatar. India defeated Japan and Qatar and thus qualified for quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, India lost to Thailand. In classification round, India defeated Qatar but lost to China, thus India finished sixth place.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
14 Nov	India	3–1	Kazakhstan	24–26	25–23	25–18	25–21		99–88
15 Nov	South Korea	3–0	India	25–19	25–20	25–19			75–58
16 Nov	India	3–0	Vietnam	25–20	25–16	25–23			75–59
19 Nov	Japan	2–3	India	20–25	19–25	25–21	28–26	13–15	105–112
20 Nov	India	3–0	Qatar	25–15	25–13	25–20			75–48
21 Nov	India	0–3	Thailand	20–25	23–25	22–25			65–75
24 Nov	Qatar	0–3	India	23–25	16–25	17–25			56–75
26 Nov	India	0–3	China	18–25	17–25	18–25			53–75

In the women’s event, India had participated only twice. First was in 1982 Asian Games at New Delhi where the team finished at the bottom (6th).

In 2010, 11 nations participated in the event. India was placed in Group B along with Japan, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, Maldives and North Korea. In the group stage, India defeated Maldives, but lost rest of the matches. In the classification match, India again faced Maldives whom they defeated by 3-0 and finished 9th.

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
18 Nov	North Korea	3–0	India	25–23	25–13	25–20			75–56
19 Nov	Maldives	0–3	India	6–25	7–25	6–25			19–75
20 Nov	India	0–3	Japan	23–25	16–25	17–25			56–75
21 Nov	Kazakhstan	3–0	India	25–18	25–9	25–10			75–37
22 Nov	India	0–3	Chinese Taipei	12–25	12–25	12–25			36–75
25 Nov	India	3–0	Maldives	25–4	25–5	25–7			75–16