<p>The Indian contingent was officially welcomed to the Asian Games athletes’ village at a simple ceremony on Thursday.</p>.<p>With teams checking in by the hour, it was a busy day at the village. India were welcomed in, along with contingents from Qatar, Jordan and Myanmar. </p>.<p>The Tricolour was hoisted and the national anthem played before the mayor of the village, Yuni Kartika, presented mementoes to the chef de missions of the contingents. Kartika, a former badminton player, hoped the athletes from the continent would raise their levels, fighting against odds. </p>.<p>Hockey players, swimmers and handball players made up the Indian presence at the ceremony, with many other athletes gearing up at the training venues. </p>.<p>Coach confident</p>.<p>Men’s coach Harendra Singh said the team was in good shape ahead of the crucial competition where the winners’ will get a spot at the Olympics.</p>.<p>“We have prepared well and the bad memories of the Commonwealth Games have been well and truly erased, after the Champions Trophy show and the series against New Zealand,” he said.</p>.<p>The men’s team will play a practice game against Bangladesh on Friday while the women will warm-up with a game against Japan, also on Friday.</p>.<p>The swimmers, back after a training session, also expressed happiness with the preparations. “We have trained well and we hope to come up with good performances,” said India’s coach Pradeep Kumar.</p>.<p>There were reports that the Indians were unhappy with the small rooms and a couple of players confirmed it. “It is too small even for us, then imagine the plight of men,” said a couple of Indian women athletes but an official brushed it aside, stating that it wasn’t a major issue. </p>.<p>“If you throw a stone into the mud, it splashes on your body, you should remember that,” he said.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Handball team out</p>.<p>The men's handball players, meanwhile, were busy taking pictures after becoming the first team to crash out of the Games.</p>.<p>Here on the back of a court order, the men lost to Chinese Taipei 38-28 and then were beaten 32-25 by Bahrain. Out of contention now, they will be here till August 31, playing the classification matches.</p>
<p>The Indian contingent was officially welcomed to the Asian Games athletes’ village at a simple ceremony on Thursday.</p>.<p>With teams checking in by the hour, it was a busy day at the village. India were welcomed in, along with contingents from Qatar, Jordan and Myanmar. </p>.<p>The Tricolour was hoisted and the national anthem played before the mayor of the village, Yuni Kartika, presented mementoes to the chef de missions of the contingents. Kartika, a former badminton player, hoped the athletes from the continent would raise their levels, fighting against odds. </p>.<p>Hockey players, swimmers and handball players made up the Indian presence at the ceremony, with many other athletes gearing up at the training venues. </p>.<p>Coach confident</p>.<p>Men’s coach Harendra Singh said the team was in good shape ahead of the crucial competition where the winners’ will get a spot at the Olympics.</p>.<p>“We have prepared well and the bad memories of the Commonwealth Games have been well and truly erased, after the Champions Trophy show and the series against New Zealand,” he said.</p>.<p>The men’s team will play a practice game against Bangladesh on Friday while the women will warm-up with a game against Japan, also on Friday.</p>.<p>The swimmers, back after a training session, also expressed happiness with the preparations. “We have trained well and we hope to come up with good performances,” said India’s coach Pradeep Kumar.</p>.<p>There were reports that the Indians were unhappy with the small rooms and a couple of players confirmed it. “It is too small even for us, then imagine the plight of men,” said a couple of Indian women athletes but an official brushed it aside, stating that it wasn’t a major issue. </p>.<p>“If you throw a stone into the mud, it splashes on your body, you should remember that,” he said.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Handball team out</p>.<p>The men's handball players, meanwhile, were busy taking pictures after becoming the first team to crash out of the Games.</p>.<p>Here on the back of a court order, the men lost to Chinese Taipei 38-28 and then were beaten 32-25 by Bahrain. Out of contention now, they will be here till August 31, playing the classification matches.</p>