Picture Credit: Twitter
The 19th edition of the Asian Games kicked off in Hangzhou, China, on Tuesday, September 19. India put up a fight against China in the first game but were completely blown away in the second-half as the unit endured a 1-5 hammering in the Group A encounter. However, the squad was heavily understaffed, as five players, including Aniket Jadhav, Narender Gahlot, Chinglensana Singh, Gurkirat Singh, and Lalchungnunga did not travel with the side.
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The players caught a later flight except for Gurkirat Singh, who missed his connecting flight from Hong Kong. Gurkirat landed in Hong Kong at 6:50am and his connecting flight to China was an hour later. The Mumbai City forward ended up missing the flight, and now the AIFF and IOA are working together to get him to Hangzhou on time.
It is to be noted that coach Igor Stimac is facing multiple problems as four of the players who played against China are suffering from cramps and are unlikely to play in the next game against Bangladesh. Additionally, the squad was tired coming into the first game as they had to sleep at the Singapore Airport spa, where they had an 11-hour layover, as there were no rooms available at the airport hotel while coming to Hangzhou, where they reached just 14-15 hours before the start of the game. “We can make it to the next round if we put in maximum effort and if we have some luck on our side,” said Igor Stimac after the 5-1 loss to China.
Among the participating nations, India were the latest to arrive and the only team to play a game before getting a practice session in. The Blue Tigers will next face Bangladesh on Thursday, September 21, after which they will face Myanmar on September 24.
