India Volleyball at Asian Games 2023: Full teams, Schedule, Medal chances

India's volleyball teams, the first among India's 655-member contingent to take the field at the 2023 Asian Games on Tuesday, will begin what is expected to be the country's most successful overall edition. A medal in volleyball, however, looks very difficult as the two teams are ranked 19th and 11th among Asian nations.

The men's team have three medals - 1 silver, 2 bronze - in the history of the Asian Games, the last one having been won in 1986. The solitary silver was won in 1962. The women's team have never managed to finish on the podium at the Asiad.

The two teams will be looking to improve on their performances from the last Asian Games. In 2018, the men's team finished at 12th spot among 20 nations. The women’s team was ranked at 10th position out of 11 nations.

Indian Volleyball Squads at 2023 Asian Games

Men's Team: Amit, Vinit Kumar, Shameemudhin Ammarambath, Muthusamy Appavu, Hari Prasad, Manoj Manjunath, Rohit Kumar, Mohan Ukkrapandian, Ashwal Rai, Santhosh Anthony Raj, Guru Prasanth Subramanian and Erin Varghese

Women's Team: Nirmal, Soorya, Minimol Abraham, Jincy Johnson, Anushree Poylil, Ashwini Kandoth, Jini Shaji, Saranya Narikunnil, Shilpa Nair, Ashwathi Raveendran, Shalini Sarvanan, and Suji Vijayan

India’s Volleyball Schedule at 2023 Asian Games

Men’s Team

India vs Cambodia - Preliminary Round- 19/9/2023 Tuesday, 4:30 pm

India vs Korea - Preliminary Round- 20/9/2023 Wednesday, 4:30 pm

Cross Matches for for 1st-6th and 7th-12th- 22/9/2023 Friday

Finals- 24/9/2023 Sunday, 25/9/2023 Monday, and 26/9/2023 Tuesday

Women’s Team

India vs North Korea - Preliminary Round- 30/9/2023 Saturday, 8 am

India vs China - Preliminary Round- 1/10/2023 Sunday, 4:30 pm

Classification 1st-8th,9th-13th- 4/10/2023 Wednesday, Classification 1st-8th and 9th-13th- 5/10/2023 Thursday

Semi-Finals 1st-8th and 9th-13th- 6/10/2023 Friday, Final- 7/10/2023 Saturday

India at Asian games 2023: Medal Chances in Volleyball

Men’s Team | World Ranking- 73 | Asian Ranking- 19 | Last Asian Games Finish - 12 | Asian Games Best Finish - 2 (1962) | Predicted Finish - Round of 16

Placed in Pool C among a total of 19 teams, the Indian men's volleyball team will be facing South Korea, last edition’s silver medalist, and Cambodia in the group stages. Korea (4th best Asian team) are the biggest threat in the group stage but India can be expected to beat Cambodia and move into the knockouts. In the Round of 16, however, provided India finish at 2nd spot in Pool C, Chinese Taipei (7th best team in Asia) are expected to be lying in wait.

Women’s Team | World Ranking- 65, | Asian Ranking- 11 | Last Asian Games Finish - 10 | Asian Games Best Finish - 6 (1982) | Predicted Finish - 9th-12th

Placed in a tough group alongside China, last edition's champions and the top-ranked team in Asia, and North Korea, whose recent performances are fairly unknown, India could end up in 3rd spot in the initial group stages, which would get them into the 9th-12th playoff matches. If the Indian women's volleyball team can cause an upset and finish in the top two positions, they will be put into a four-team group in the second round likely comprising China, Korea and Vietnam, some of the top Asian teams.

India Volleyball Results at 2018 Asian Games

At the 2018 edition, India lost to Pakistan and then suffered another narrow defeat to to Myanmar in the final round placement match to finish at 12th. The women's team was ranked second last in the last Asian Games.

India at Asian Games: Volleyball Records

The men's volleyball tem gave its best performance in the year 1962 by winning a silver medal, Since 1986, there has been a constant downfall in performance. As for the women's team, the best result came at the 1982 Asian Games, where they ranked 6th. Both the teams have dominated the South Asian Games, but at the continental level, there are many teams who can dominate India on their day, records show.

Silver - Men's Team (1962)

Bronze - Men's Team (1958, 1986)