India begin women’s cricket title defence against hosts Japan in Asian Games quarter-final

India’s defence of the women’s cricket title starts on Friday when Harmanpreet Kaur’s side meet hosts Japan in a quarter-final at Korogi Athletic Park, scheduled for 10:30 AM IST in the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

The Indian team enter the knockout stage as the highest-ranked side in the eight-nation women’s cricket competition and as the reigning champions from the 2022 Hangzhou Games. India arrive with recent momentum after winning a record-extending eighth Women’s Asia Cup title last week, and the squad includes Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma and Shree Charani among those expected to feature.

The quarter-final will be the first meeting between India and Japan in women’s cricket and comes as Japan make their third appearance in Asian Games cricket; their best result was a bronze medal in 2010. The match pairs the hosts with one of the tournament favourites and represents Japan’s quarter-final opposition on home soil.

India’s teqball contingent will also be in action on Friday, with Quimcy Joaquim Dsouza beginning her women’s singles campaign against Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto before a match with Cambodia’s Koemyean Dy; if she advances she could appear in the women’s singles quarter-finals later the same day. Dsouza will partner Mohamed Anas Imran Beg in India’s mixed doubles entry; Dsouza and Imran Beg have three mixed-doubles group matches scheduled before another fixture at 1:00 PM IST.

In the mixed-doubles group stage India are set to face opponents from the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Kuwait, with the mixed doubles quarter-finals also scheduled on Friday and repechage matches to follow, India’s further progress depending on qualification. The mixed-doubles schedule thus represents a busy day for the pair and for India’s teqball participants.

India’s men’s soft tennis team — Jay Meena, Aniket Patel, Yogesh Choudhary, Aryan Thakur and Om Yadav — will begin their campaign in preliminary Group C, with two further group matches planned later in the day and a place in the quarter-finals contingent on qualification from the group stage.

Friday’s slate of events takes place a day before the Asian Games’ official opening ceremony; the Games are scheduled to run from September 19 to October 4 across Aichi-Nagoya. India’s match against Japan at Korogi Athletic Park at 10:30 AM IST will serve as their opening knockout fixture in the women’s cricket tournament.