Hangzhou (China), Oct 1 (PTI) The Indian women made it to the quarterfinal despite being pummelled by China in their 5x5 basketball final group-stage match against defending champion China in the continuing Asian Games here on Sunday.

Indian team suffered a crushing 53-111 defeat, which was its maiden loss in the sport this term, having won the previous two matches versus Indonesia (66-46) and Mongolia (68-62).

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The quarterfinal qualification in the sport is earned by the combined ranking of the teams in the tournament post-completion of the group stage, i.e. the top eight-ranked sides, where the Indians are currently ranked sixth.

It is India's fifth appearance in the competition in this sport, having finished ninth in the previous edition in Jakarta-Palembang 2018, whereas its best performance came in its first appearance in New Delhi 1982, finishing fifth.

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)