India's knockout hopes on the line after losing 2 in 2 at Asian Youth Handball Championship

India's chances of progressing to the semifinals of the 2022 Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship in Manama, Bahrain took a beating after they succumbed to their second consecutive defeat in the group stage.

The Indian team lost 23-56 to South Korea on Tuesday following their 14-64 defeat to Iran in their opening match. Currently bottom of the five-team group, India need to beat Bahrain and Uzbekistan in their two remaining matches to stand a chance of finishing in the top two in Group A.

Yash (16 goals in 2 matches) has been the top scorer for the Indian team so far. Vipul (10 goals in 2 matches), Manish Raj (5 goals in 2 matches) and Subir Roy (4 goals in 2 matches) have been the other notable scorers for the team.

India have never reached the semifinals of this event, their best finish was the 6th-place finish in the last edition of this tournament in 2018. If India finish at the bottom of Group A, they will head to the 9-10 placement match.

This is the ninth edition of the tournament, being organised by the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) since 2005. Bahrain, India's next opponents, are the defending champions from 2018.

The top five teams from the event will directly qualify for the 2023 IHF Men's Youth World Championship in Croatia in 2023.