Volleyball
Asian Volleyball C'ships 2023: India knocked out, loses to China
Indian men's volleyball team was knocked out of the Asian Championships 2023 after losing to China in the pre-quarterfinals.

FILE PHOTO: Indian men's volleyball team.
Indian men's volleyball team was knocked out of the ongoing Asian Volleyball Championships 2023 after losing to China in Urmia, Iran on Wednesday.
India lost a closely fought game against China by the score of 2-3 (29–31. 25–19, 18–25, 25–22, 13–15). After the loss against China, India will play the positional matches of 7th to 12th place.
India qualified for the knockouts (round of 12) after finishing second in Pool E behind Qatar. India won one game and lost one in the pool stage.
India did not get off to a good start to the tournament as Qatar hammered it 3-0. India earned a two-point lead in the opening set (18-16) but could score only two points in the next 11. India gained a slender lead (10-9) in the second set but lost steam as the match progressed.
India lost the second and third sets 25-19 each.
In the do-or-die match against Afghanistan, the Indians came determined to win as they won the first two sets and then won the match after Afghanistan tried to make a mini-comeback in the third game. Ashwal Rai was the standout performer for the Indian team in the match with 36 points.
Indian squad for Asian Volleyball Championships 2023:
Indian squad: Amit Gulia, Ashamatullah, Ashwal Rai, Erin Varghese, Hari Prasad BS, Jerome Vinith, John Joseph EJ, Muthusamy Appavu, Shameemudheen, Vinayak Rokhade, Vinit Kumar, Rohit Kumar