JAKARTA: The Indian men handball team Monday started their campaign at the quadrennial event with a 28-38 defeat against Chinese Taipei on Monday.
The Games are set to begin on August 18 in the Indonesian capital, but competitions in many events such as handball and football began today.
The handball federation got approval from the court for the Asian Games, after being refused by The Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
The men's team suffered a loss of 28-38 from the Chinese Taipei in the preliminary round of Group D.
India's Harendra Singh scored eight, Devendra Singh scored six, while Ramesh Chand and Harjinder Singh scored three goals each.
However, there is still hope as two teams from each group go through.
A win in both their upcoming matches is crucial for that to happen and India will somehow need to pull off an upset against Bahrain.
In the women's draw, 10 teams will be competing for gold.
India will compete with South Korea, Kazakhstan, China and North Korea in Group A.