India, Sept. 20 -- Teqball, a hybrid of football and table tennis invented just 14 years ago, made its debut at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan on Saturday. India's three-athlete squad came within one match of a medal, with Quimcy Dsouza losing a tight women's singles semi-final before narrowly missing out in Sunday's bronze medal playoffs in both women's singles (11-12, 11-12 against Japan's Yuina Sakamoto) and mixed doubles alongside Mohamed Anas Baig (9-12, 6-12 against Vietnam).

The result marks a key advance by India in a sport that reached the country only in 2019, when Teqball India was formed, and whose serious development did not begin until 2021-22, as the pandemic stalled its early growth.

A look at the sport, its rule...