India's fight fizzles in final 20mins versus hosts China

Tactical session at airport, sleeping in a spa en route, reaching Hangzhou hours before kick-off without the full squad and taking on the hosts without a training session.

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Let down by those they would have expected support from, Igor Stimac and India walked out to defend the flag on Tuesday. And yet at halftime in their Asian Games opener at Huanglong Sports Center Stadium, they were on level terms against hosts China.

That was because in the first minute of first-half added time, Rahul KP first showed he could also challenge for a berth in the men's relay squads and then the technique to aim for the near post without breaking stride. But 1-1 at half-time after Gurmeet Singh had saved a penalty was too good to last. As India players cramped and collapsed on the pitch-the consequence of long-haul flights, inadequate rest and possibly questionable pre-seasons - as Sumit Rathi, usually a thirdchoice central defender at Mohun Bagan, struggled as leftback, China scored three goals in the last 20 minutes, including two by Tao Qianlongin the 72nd and 76th, to win 5-1.