India loses to Japan 50-100, end their U-18 Asia Cup campaign with 8th spot

India lost to Japan in the Under-18 Asia Cup match by a margin of 50-100. In the process, the young Indian team ended its campaign in the eighth spot. After beating some of the higher-ranked teams in the tournament, India did not prove to be a match to a ruthless Japanese side, but the young players were impressive with their fight.

In the 16-nation tournament that took place in Jordan, India lost the 7-8 classification match to manage their joint-best finish in the U-18 Asia Cup. In 2016, India finished similarly when they went down 64-67 to the Philippines. India put on a show in the tournament by beating teams like Kuwait and Lebanon. It was India's first win in the U-18 Asia Cup in six years.

India lost to Iran in the previous game and fell under the pressure to win at all costs. Japan set the pace for the game right from the word go by claiming a massive lead of 26-10 at the end of the first quarter. They had a lead of 17-12 in the second quarter. Japan claimed a massive lead of 34-15 in the third quarter and all but sealed the game. Japan achieved a lead of 23-13 in the fourth quarter to end the game on a high.

'They took advantage of our weaknesses' - Indian coach's assessment

After the match, the Indin coach Scott Flemming spoke to the media. He felt the players repeated the same mistakes they had in the past. He felt Japan realized their weakness and targeted it. He however believed India exceeded the expectations by doing well in many games. "Our same issues hurt us again - turnovers and rebounding."

"Japan was a superior team and they took advantage of our weaknesses. I am still really proud of this group. Honestly, as much as we would like to win every game, I believe we exceeded expectations by making the quarterfinals and beating a higher-ranked team in Lebanon. There is a long way to go with this group but it is something to build on," said Stephen.