FOR TWO YEARS, Haley Jones reserved a drawer for her Atlanta Dream gear. In a span of 16 days, she cleared out two more drawers for two more teams. Julie Vanloo sped across 3,000 miles to sit and wait for a job offer she might never get. Shyanne Sellers — she knows it sounds awful — felt a twinge of hope when she saw somebody get hurt. Seven words from a basketball icon — You’re not ready for the league yet — haunted Harmoni Turner. Diamond DeShields felt mocked by her own juicer that barely had time to juice.

Five players. Twenty transactions. Seventeen states. Four countries. Eighty-six days. This is life on the fringe of the WNBA.

JONES STANDS JUST beyond the 3-point line and watches as her former teammates on the Atlanta Dream smother one of her new teammates on the Dallas Wings.

There’s 3:42 to go in the July 30 game, and Dallas is down 76-74 with six seconds on the shot clock. Wings veteran Arike Ogunbowale manages to find an opening in the Dream’s defense and kicks the ball out to Jones, but the pass is high and it slips through her fingers. Jones retrieves it near the logo with three seconds left on the shot clock. She whips around. She barely has time to recenter herself. She squats and launches.

The ball arches across nearly half the court and lands squarely inside the net. Paige Bueckers, standing underneath the hoop, punches her right fist in the air to celebrate her new teammate’s good fortune and the Wings’ one-point lead. Jones laughs out loud. It’s her 10th game with the Wings, the eighth since she signed her rest-of-season contract 21 days earlier. In 31 minutes, she scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and added three assists and three rebounds, but the Wings fell 88-85.

Still, social media erupted with comments about how the Dream made a huge mistake when they waived the sixth overall pick in the 2023 draft right before the 2025 season.

Atlanta was the only home Jones had known since she graduated from Stanford and moved out of the Bay Area. She’d settled in Atlanta with her partner, who had taken a job there to live with her. She’d even bought an investment property in the city. She was looking forward to expanding her role during her third season with the Dream.

Then, on the second-to-last day of training camp, Jones became the last player on the team to be waived. Over the next 56 days, she flew from Atlanta back home to the Bay Area, then to Phoenix, then back home, then to Dallas and then back home before returning to Dallas again. She lived in four states, pingponged some 7,000 miles between homes, played on three teams and found herself unemployed three times.

“That was a roller coaster, what?” Jones said, dragging the word “what” almost like she’s shocked by the amount of change she’s been through in a matter of months.

Wild as it sounds, Jones’ journey isn’t all that unique.

The WNBA consists of 13 teams. Each team — according to the CBA — can have a maximum of 12 players, meaning a playing workforce of 156 at most. In 2025, 38 players were drafted into the league that had 151 returning players. Econ 101: the supply is greater than the demand. Most years, fewer than half of the draftees land a roster spot for opening day. In 2025, 20 draftees made it until opening day, up from 13 of 36 in 2024. In 2023, it was 15. Unlike the NBA, which allows teams to carry 15 players, the WNBA doesn’t have a minor league system or a developmental league. So players who are released are often unmoored, unemployed and unhappy.

But here’s the thing: roster spots regularly open up in the WNBA — sometimes even shortly before the playoffs — because the CBA mandates that teams carry a minimum of 11 players. Injuries and player commitments to national teams create regular opportunities for employment, a carrot for players on the fringe. Think of it as temp work that comes with a quandary. Should players on the league’s fringe wait around hoping to get another shot? Should they abandon their WNBA aspirations, maybe even their basketball dreams altogether? Get another job? And if they opt to stick it out, where do they live? Who do they train with? And how can they pay their bills? Not to mention the biggest question of all: Will they ever be good enough to secure a steady job in the WNBA?

“You feel shock, you feel embarrassment,” Jones said. “And then it’s a lot of life you gotta figure out.”

FIRST THINGS FIRST, DeShields thought. How do I get home? And, should I take my juicer?

Don’t blame DeShields for being a bit scattered after she was released by the Connecticut Sun on May 15. She’s a former league All-Star, a former WNBA champion. And she didn’t see the shoe that was about to drop.

“Everything was about me having a leadership role and being one of the vets on the team,” said DeShields, who had signed a one-year contract with the Sun in February.

Her face, she said, was plastered all over the Mohegan Sun walls. She had shot promo videos with the team just days earlier. Every conversation revolved around her long-term progress with the team, she said.

Then she was called in and let go.

In a career that has been full of notable moments, this was a first. She was the third overall pick in the 2018 draft. She was named a WNBA All-Star in 2019. Later that year, she was diagnosed with a benign tumor in her spinal cord. She underwent a nine-hour surgery and had to learn how to walk again. She made it back to the league for 13 games in 2020. In 2021, she helped the Chicago Sky win the franchise’s first championship. Now, after a minor ankle sprain that had hampered her during training camp, she was unemployed. And soon to be evicted.

DeShields sat on her bed in the apartment the Sun had provided for her and took stock of her space. Her juicer, her workout equipment, her many, many bags of clothes she’d carefully arranged in what she thought would be her home for the next year stared at her as though they were mocking her.

She called an Uber. She needed to get to a rental car lot so she could find a car that could carry all of her stuff 1,000 miles back to Atlanta. The Sun, she said, offered her a coach ticket back home, which is mandated in the CBA, but wouldn’t cover all her shipping expenses.

“The team will ship three to five boxes,” she said. “But I have more than three to five boxes worth of stuff.”

I need to pack up and drive back home.

The trouble was, she couldn’t find anything to drive. The first rental place didn’t have a vehicle big enough. Ditto at the second and the third and the fourth.

Dejected, she sat outside her final stop and recorded a video. “Getting waived is crazy, because what do you do after you get waived?” she asks, looking this way and that way but never directly at the camera.

She posted the video on Instagram, hoping somebody could help her find a way out of her predicament. Then she reached out to the Sun, who connected her to a rental car company they had a partnership with.

“In my mind, I’m like, ‘Well, that would have just been much easier to know from the jump,'” DeShields said.

Thankfully, they had a truck that would do the trick. For the next several hours she packed up her apartment and squeezed it into her rental. Early the next morning, she drove 15 hours south to Atlanta, only stopping to take restroom and meal breaks.

When she arrived back home, a to-do list began to take form.

IN HER NINTH game with the expansion Golden State Valkyries this season, Vanloo dished out eight assists in an eight-point win over the Los Angeles Sparks. After that June 9 game, the second-year WNBA player flew overseas to play for Belgium in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket tournament. Vanloo helped lead Belgium to its second straight title and then skipped the celebrations and got on a plane to rejoin her Valkyries teammates in America. On June 30, an hour after landing in California, the Valkyries waived her. Wish I had known that a day ago, Vanloo thought.

She didn’t have a home and she didn’t wallow in the what-ifs. She called her agent, who told her there was a chance the Sparks could have a roster spot for her. She didn’t sit around and wait.

Vanloo bought a ticket (with her own money), packed a suitcase and got on a plane to New York because the Sparks were playing the Liberty in Brooklyn on July 3.

“If I have to pay for a flight and go to New York, fly all night to be there and be ready, I’ll do it,” Vanloo said.

She arrived at Barclays Center early — she worried she would get stuck in traffic and be late for a job she didn’t even have — and sat outside the entrance for two hours all in the hopes that the Sparks might call. She pulled out her cell phone and watched the time tick away until 5 p.m., when her two-day waiver timeline would elapse.

Her agent called her shortly after 5 and told her that Sparks general manager Raegan Pebley was on her way to get her.

“Welcome to the Sparks,” Pebley said.

A wave of happiness and relief flooded Vanloo. Her past four days flashed in front of her eyes: the gold medal, the waiver, the doubt and now the new opportunity.

Two hours later, she was suited up and on the Barclays floor and played two minutes.

Then she flew to Indiana with the team for its July 5 game against the Indiana Fever. She entered the game with 1:53 to go in the first quarter. Forty-six seconds later, she rattled in a 3-pointer from the wing, her first points for the Sparks.

She returned to California, this time to L.A., and moved into her team-assigned apartment. In many ways, she feels like she’s home. She reunited with Julie Allemand, her Belgian teammate, with whom she’d just won the EuroBasket title. She has played 21 games for the Sparks so far, averaging 10.6 minutes and 2.6 points.

The Aug. 9 game, Sparks at Golden State, was particularly emotional. Being a visitor in her former home, she said, felt strange. She reached out to the fans the day before.

“Tomorrow I’m going to be back in Chase Center,” Vanloo wrote in an Instagram story. “I can’t wait to see you all again. No matter what, Valks fans have a very special place in my heart.”

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said she feels like a “proud parent” that Vanloo and other players who didn’t make her roster are contributing elsewhere. The problem isn’t with the players, she says, it’s with the rules.

“We need more roster spots,” Nakase said. “These girls deserve roster spots.”

Now Vanloo is hoping to prolong her up-and-down season by helping the Sparks secure a playoff spot. The close call has given way to an important perspective.

“I’ll do anything,” Vanloo said, “for my dream.”

SELLERS WIPED AWAY a tear when WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert called her name as the 17th overall selection in the 2025 April 14 draft. Wearing a light blue suit, Sellers walked to the stage, posed for photos and held a Golden State Valkyries jersey for the cameras.

Nineteen days later, she was gone. “We’re going to release you,” Valkyries GM Ohemaa Nyanin said. “You’ve done everything we’ve asked of you — but we’re going to let you go.”

Fairytale endings are hard to come by for players on the fringe. Especially rookies on the fringe.

Sellers, a former Maryland star, had put her belongings in storage before flying to the Valkyries training camp. Now she was unsure where home even was.

She knew she needed to pack up the bags she brought to camp, and she knew she needed to book a flight. But to where?

Should she join her fiancee in New Jersey? Maybe go spend time with her dad, former NBA player Brad Sellers, in Ohio? Question after question floated in her brain as she walked out of the coaches office toward her hotel room.

She called her agent, who told her to stay put until they figured out if other teams had interest. A day later, tired of waiting, she told them she was flying to New Jersey.

“I was like, alright, I just want to get myself together — do laundry. Like, I’ve been living out of a suitcase for a month at this point,” Sellers said.

Her clothes still had that fresh scent when her agent called and said the Dream wanted to sign her. She repacked her suitcase — this time just a single one — kissed her fiancee goodbye and got on a plane to Atlanta 12 hours after she arrived in Jersey. She joined the Dream on May 5.

A week later, on May 12, she was released. She heard the same words again, this time from a different GM. Thank you for coming, we’re going to release you.

That same day, she got on a plane but rerouted to her father’s house in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, where he serves as the town’s mayor. She spent the next few weeks paying out of pocket to rehab her tweaked right knee.

At Maryland, she was the first player to have 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Now she might not even get a field goal attempt this season in the WNBA. She kept going back to one thought: Two teams waived me in a matter of weeks. What are the chances a third team will take a chance on me?

Fellow 2025 draftee Harmoni Turner, a flashy guard straight out of Harvard, thought she’d only need one coach to take a chance on her. Drafted by the Aces in the third round, one day she was geeking out about getting a text from her new teammate A’ja Wilson, the next day she was a former WNBA player who didn’t make it out of training camp.

“You’re not ready for the league yet,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told her.

Turner went back to Harvard, completed some classwork and participated in graduation ceremonies. Then she moved back in with her parents in Mansfield, Texas. She didn’t even have a paystub to show for her time in Las Vegas. In accordance with the CBA, she received just a stipend for lodging, meals and travel.

Every time somebody back home asked, “What’s next for you?” she took it to mean that they thought her basketball career was over — that they were looking for a new answer from her.

Maybe I should quit, she kept thinking.

VANLOO IS ONE of the lucky ones. Waived, picked up and now contributing for a new team. But for many fringe players, the soul-searching begins after the chaos of getting released ends.

DeShields couldn’t stomach the idea of sitting around Atlanta waiting for her phone to ring.

After spending a week back home, she decided to move to Los Angeles to work with a trainer and physio she knew. Because the Sun released her for medical reasons, they owed her a percentage of her salary, about $20,000, but that wouldn’t last long in L.A. She carefully budgeted her travel and training expenses and reached out to some WNBA friends in the L.A. area who might be able to help her find a place to stay. Lexie Brown, a childhood pal and former teammate who is playing for the Storm in Seattle, offered DeShields her L.A. apartment. DeShields thanked the universe for Brown’s generosity and for her lucky break. She moved to the West Coast.

Weeks later, she signed a contract with OGM Ormanspor, a professional team that plays in the Turkey Women’s Basketball Super League in Ankara. She left earlier this week and will return next spring just in time for WNBA training camps. The setback has made her goal even clearer.

“When I get back on the court, I plan on making an impact,” DeShields said. “I’ll definitely be back playing next summer.”

It took Turner a bit more time to figure things out.

When she got back to Texas, she worked out with a personal trainer two hours a day, but she kept asking herself, “What was the point of this workout?” USA Basketball invited her to play in a 3×3 tournament in Washington D.C., but her heart wasn’t in it. Hammon’s voice kept ringing in her brain. On the one hand, she felt immense gratitude to Hammon for taking a shot on her. But those words stung.

When she wasn’t in the gym, she stayed home and fixated on the future. She muted any news about the WNBA on her social media. She couldn’t bear to see people getting re-signed and getting second chances. The thought of watching the season made her stomach curdle, so she distanced herself. She went out with friends practically every night to avoid the games.

But basketball’s pull was too great. One day, she made a promise to herself: I will spend the next seven to eight months getting stronger, bigger and more physical. I will get a call for training camp next season. I will show Hammon — and everybody else — what I am capable of doing.

She signed with Landerneau, a team in the French league. She got on a call with head coach Wani Muganguzi. He told her all the right things. They loved her unorthodox style of play and wanted to help her develop.

She left for France on Aug. 12.

“(I’m going to use) those stumbling blocks as stepping stones to get back to the W,” she said. “But not only get back to the W, but dominate at a level that shocks everybody.”

Unlike Turner, Sellers loves watching her friends and former teammates in the WNBA. After she was waived for the second time, she started texting them — Diamond Miller, Brionna Jones, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough — and absorbed their perspectives on how to keep believing. “Your time will come,” they told her.

She found a small gym in northern New Jersey near her fiancee’s house. She also regularly went to her fiancee’s mom’s AAU gym to keep developing her skills.

“The world’s not over because I didn’t make the WNBA on my first try,” Sellers said.

Some days, she heard news of a player getting injured and she stared at her phone wondering if she’d get a call to become their replacement. She’s not the kind of person to wish an injury on anybody, but she’s aware of how — in a perverse way — news of an injury makes her hope.

She knows what she wants. And she’s willing to wait. And work.

“I’ve always told people, there is no plan B to basketball — it’s just basketball,” Sellers said. “That’s just kind of what you’re waiting on… is someone to give you a chance.”

JONES FOUND A second and then a third team to give her a chance. And as grateful as she is, life on the fringe has created some serious snarls.

Atlanta, where she spent the first two seasons of her career, had become her home. Now Atlanta didn’t want her.

After she was released, she moved back home to Santa Cruz, California, so she could work with her trainer and physio. She remembers first going back to her team-assigned apartment and sorting her life’s belongings into piles. What do I need for the immediate future? What can I leave behind?

Turns out her partner was one of the things she had to leave behind. He stayed in Atlanta, moved into their rental property (along with many of Jones’ belongings) and kept his job until he started law school in the fall.

Two weeks after Jones returned to her parents’ home, she signed a hardship contract with the Phoenix Mercury. She knew what she was getting into: She would be there for a week or so to fill the gap while Alyssa Thomas and Natasha Mack recovered from their injuries. Their return would mean a full roster and no room for Jones. It wasn’t ideal, but she wanted to keep playing. She took it as a networking opportunity and developed friendships with the players and met with coaches. Then, four games and a week later, on June 8, she returned home to the Bay Area. She’d done what was asked of her, and she was onto finding her next gig.

A week later, on June 17, she heard from the Wings. It was another hardship contract, this time to help bridge injury absences and departures of players representing their national teams. She played two games before she was waived to make space for the European players who were returning to Dallas.

Jones packed her suitcase and returned to the Bay Area. Again. She still believed she could land a roster spot. Somewhere. But the discourse online bothered her. “If you don’t know the W, you’re like, ‘Haley keeps getting cut,'” Jones said. “But the reality of a hardship contract is that I was there to fill a role.” Nothing more. Nothing less.

Jones stopped looking at the internet and continued training.

Almost two months after she was waived by the Dream, Jones received another call from the Wings. This time, they offered her a contract to play through the end of the season. She triple-checked with them that it was not another hardship contract before she allowed herself to get excited. She quickly packed two suitcases and a carry-on bag, flew to Dallas and signed on July 9. She brought mostly cotton and linen outfits that would help her get through the summer in Dallas.

She and her partner are doing long-distance for the foreseeable future as he pursues law school and she goes after her WNBA dreams that nearly slipped away. She’s cautious about putting down roots. But she has learned that home is people, not a place. And she’s slowly finding her people in Dallas.

The past three months, the constant moves and the constant uncertainties have made her more resilient. When she walks onto the court, she doesn’t linger much in the past, but neither does she fixate on the future. She plays like today is all she has. And it shows.

In the 19 games she has played since signing her rest-of-season contract, she’s averaging 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She started 13 straight. Fine is the line between star and spectator.

But Dallas, at 9-32, won’t make the playoffs this season. Jones’ job is secure for three more games. Next season, the league expands to Toronto and Portland. More jobs will be open. Players such as DeShields, Sellers and Turner will be working to land them. A new class of draftees will join the fray.

Back home in the Bay, Jones has a bedroom drawer reserved for her Atlanta Dream swag. This season, she cleared out two more: one for her Mercury swag and another for her Wings swag. Her mom asked her if she’d like to give any of it away to Goodwill, but Jones decided to keep it. She just might need it someday.

“Who knows what the future holds for me,” she said.

Must read this week

Iconic: Can you miss viral tweet from Oscar Piastry three years ago? “I won’t drive for Alpine next year” … on the anniversary, Nat Saunders have taken a look Piastry changed the fate of McLaren and Alpine in that time.

Unfortunate: Lewis Hamilton has Five place grid penalty Late at the end of this week for violation of a yellow flag.

‘Little Prost’: Helmut marco was sure Towards Ruki Isac Hudzar, who claimed his first podium at the zandwort, said: “We chose him, so we knew that he was something special.”

Special lies: Ferrari Nikki will celebrate Lauda’s first world title’s 50th anniversary Running a retro liver And at the end of this week, the new blue uniform in Italian Grand Prix.

Forgiveness: Ferrari team principal Fred Vasasur told reporters Kimi Antoneley apologizes to the team After his error, Charles Lakeler crashed out of Dutch GP. “I appreciate it,” said Vasasur. Meanwhile, Toto Wolf, Principal of Mercedes Team, Defeated your driver And said that all this is part of his miscreants “The year of learning.”

Unlapped: For more analysis and preview of Italian Grand Prix, listen to the latest episode ESPN’s F1 Podcast Unlapped Nat Saunders and Lawrence Admondson with F1 authors.

Circuit data and history

Autodromeo Nazionel Monza, known as ‘Temple of Speed’ for its long straps and sharp corners, is another classic circuit that has been part of Formula 1 since it started in 1950.

Almost every Italian is held in Grand Prix Monza, except in 1980 which was in Imola (the other Emola race during this period was under the guise of San Marino Grand Prix).

Monza was built in 1922 as the world’s third purpose-manufactured circuit (and the oldest in Europe), and the others had a section-like-like-Oval-in which the bankd corner. After many incidents and fatal over the years, it was removed from F1 in the 1960s and while that part of the circuit is still there, it is no longer in use for racing.

The final race to use Monza Oval was 1000 km in 1969.

Circuit: Autodromeo Nazionel Monza; Monza, Italy

First f1 race: 1950

Law Record: 1: 21.046, Rubens Barichelo (2004)

Laps: 53 laps of 5.8 km. Total distance 306 km

What makes special: The fastest track on the calendar, known as the “temple of motion”. Long straps and heavy braking zones make it a frenzy race track, with ferry-love Tiffoi The icing on the cake. When Ferrari wins here, there is no better place.

What the driver says about it: “Monza is such a great place, of course one of the most incredible races on the calendar for a driver, and always to run on such a thrill … it’s a great test of the nerve.” – Jenson button

Most wins: Hamilton (2012, 2014-2015, 2017-2018) and Michael Shumakar (1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006) are tied on five.

Other winners from the current grid:

• Fernando Alonso (2007, 2010)

• Pierre Galli (2020)

• Lakeler (2019, 2024)

• Max Vastapane (2022, 2023)

Most poles: King of Qualifying, Hamilton has seven in this circuit in 2009, 2012, 2014-2017, 2020).

Other pole seater from the current grid:

• Alonso (2007, 2010)

• Lakeler (2019, 2022)

• Vastapane (2021)

• Carlos Sainz (2023)

• Lando Noris (2024).

Statistics and fun facts this week:

• The first Grand Slam of the Zandwort Piastry (a clean sweep of the pole position, the race lead, the race win, the fastest lap) was also the first by the McLaren Driver since 1998, and the first by an Australian driver since 1966.

• At the age of 20, Hadzar is the youngest French to make an F1 podium, defeating Gasli’s record.

• The race was Franco Colapinto’s first grand prix last year

• The 34-point lead of the piastry is the largest lead by any driver in this season, and the largest by the Australian driver at any point of a championship.

• Only two drivers have taken a lead of 34+ points and failed to win the drivers’ championships: Alonso who led 40 points after Hungary in 2012 and Lakeler, who led 34 points after Australia in 2022 …

What happened last year?

“Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia!” Last year there was a story for Ferrari as Lakeler defeated McClarance with one Fully executed strategy,

Ferrari also had the last win in Monza since Lakeler won in 2019. Piastry and Noris had to compromise for podium spots.

Who will win?

Long straps of Monza make it an exterior on the F1 calendar and a circuit that sometimes provides a stunning result. However, McLaren has won seven of the last eight races, and there was no strategy to win here last year – if there was no strategy.

Consequently, it is difficult to see a piastry win that will carry forward its profit in the standing of drivers.

How to see championship

Going to the Dutch Grand Prix, Noris was just nine points behind Piastry. But their race retirement and piastry’s victory and point for the fastest lap means the difference has been extended to 34 points, with nine races remaining.

Verustapane is 70 points behind Noris leading to the weekend.

In the constructed, 324 points at the top, McLaren wrapped a lot of title.

See standing

How to see GP

For fans only in the US, see live on ESPN and ESPN+,

The UK has live broadcasting coverage Sky Sports F1 and BBC Radio 5 Live, with highlights on Channel 4.

For news, analysis and updates, Follow coverage with ESPN’s F1 team Nat Saunders and Lawrence Edmondson in Monza and on social media.

Session below session in BST (British summer). Local time is central European summer time (BST+1 hour).

Friday
Free practice one: 12: 30-13: 30 BST
Free practice two: 16: 00-17: 00 BST

Saturday
Free practice three: 11: 30-12: 30 BST
Qualification: 15: 00-16: 00 BST

sunday
Race begins: 14:00 BST (Live Text Commentary Build-up 13:00 from BST Espn.co.uk/f1,

, Standing , Calendar , Teams
– 2025 F1 Circuit: Why are their history, statistics and special
, Major facts on drivers, teams, places, more
, Due to rooting for each F1 driver, questions for every team
– Meet the miscreants: What do you expect from the 2025 F1 class

New Delhi: India gave several opportunities and was forced to settle for a 2–2 draw against Korea, defending champion in its initial Super 4S the Mains’ initial Super 4S clash. Asia Cup Hockey tournament in Rajgir on Wednesday.The hosts dominated the possession and created more opportunities, but Korea’s flexible rescue ensured that they went with a point. Both sides now have a point in the Super 4S table.Hardik Singh (8th minute) and Mandeep Singh (53rd) was a target for India, while Jihun Yang (12th, Penalty Stroke) and Hyonhong Kim (14th, Penalty Corner) scored for Korea.India’s match was delayed by about 50 minutes due to a huge decline just before the beginning. Once played, Hardik looked alive in midfield with his run and dragging. After remembering a couple from the initial penalty corner, India was finally killed when Sukhjit Singh stole the possession and fed to the Hardik, who weaves several defenders before finishing the goalkeeper.However, the cost of defensive flaws is India. Jugraj Singh’s push inside the circle gave Korea a penalty stroke that Yang converted, and two minutes later Kim’s drag flicks placed visitors 2–1.Despite several penetrations, India went into a halftime, in which goalkeeper Jane Kim produced a good savings from Jarmanpreet Singh’s strike.After the break, Korea slowed the Tempo, while India worked hard. Sukhjeet lost a golden opportunity from the close range, while Abhishek widen only twice to defeat the goalkeeper. The efforts of Harmanpreet Singh’s penalty corner were also rejected.India’s firmness eventually paid in the 53rd minute when Mandeep Singh tapped to equal to Sukhjit’s help. After moments, Amit Rohidas had a chance from a penalty corner, but missed the target. Despite the continuous pressure until the final CT, the winner never came.Earlier in the day, Malaysia defeated China 2–0 in the first Super 4S stability. In the first half, a roundless, Syed Cholnn converted to a penalty corner, before Akhimullah Anura doubled the lead. Tempers were provoked in the closing stages with players from both sides receiving yellow cards.In the classification round, Japan defeated Chinese Taipei 2–0, who thanks to a brace from Riosuke Shinohara (5th, 11th minute).India will face the next Malaysia, while Korea will take to China on Thursday.