Asian Games 2018, Preview: Indian Handball Team

India kick-start their campaign at the Asian Games with the Handball event which is commencing on 13.08.2018 at the POPKI Sport Hall, Jakarta at 10:00 am IST.

The Indian team is clubbed in Group D of the Qualification round along with Bahrain, Chinese Taipei and Iraq.

In the recent Asian Championships held in Suwon, Korea in Jan 2018, India was placed 12th out of 14 countries with only two wins against Bangladesh and New Zealand. They did put up a spirited performance against Uzbekistan but suffered heavily against South Korea and UAE.

Bahrain had finished runners-up in the event, while Chinese Taipei and Iraq did not participate in the event.

India had not participated in the previous two events held in 2014 and 2016. Bahrain were the runners-up in both the events as well losing to eventual champions Qatar. Iraq had participated in the 2014 event and were placed 10th out of 12 nations.

Qatar are the favourites to take the crown with a world ranking of 26, followed by South Korea and Bahrain.

India's chances have brightened as China, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Oman and UAE are not participating in this year's event at the Asian Games. India would in all probability put up a great fight against Bahrain but would still go down. They, however, can prove their mettle against Chinese Taipei and Iraq and are expected to win these close fought encounters. A win against both these opponents will take us to the Main round were we are expecting to play against Qatar, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

So as far as India's chances in the Men's Handball event at the 2018 Asian games, we are expected to finish second in the Qualification group and qualify for the main round and expect to finish in the top 8.