Indian men’s handball team included in Asian Games draw

The draw for the handball has been released with 13 teams divided into four groups.

The group comprising India has four teams, while other groups have three teams each. (Representational Image)

India’s men’s handball team has been included in the draw released by the Asian Games organisers, even though it was not there in Indian Olympic Association’s list of 534 athletes, published on June 5.

The draw for the handball has been released with 13 teams divided into four groups. The group comprising India has four teams, while other groups have three teams each.

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India is in group D alongside Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, India and Iraq. India’s women’s team was, however, cleared by IOA and it is in a five-team group comprising South Korea, Kazakhstan, China and North Korea.

The handball teams have been under scanner as they have not fulfilled the IOA criteria of being among the top eight teams in Asia. Their performance has been consistently poor and, yet, they have been given a preference overlooking a more popular sport like football, where India has improved by leaps and bounds to be ranked 14 among Asian teams.