‘We were still confident’: Dragan Mihailovic reveals belief behind India’s stunning Qatar comeback

Bengaluru: India men's volleyball coach Dragan Mihailovic said the team was confident of staging a comeback while trailing 0-2 and staring at a straight-sets defeat against World No. 21 Qatar in an Asian Games Pool C match on Tuesday at the Park Arena Komaki in Komaki, Japan.The Serbian coach, credited for transforming the team which saw them win a bronze in the AVC Cup in Ahmedabad, said the team believed they could iron out the flaws and push hard. "Even after Qatar took a 2-0 lead, we were still confident that we were going to win this game because Qatar took the lead due to our mistakes. We knew exactly where we went wrong but it was almost impossible to fix it during those two sets because a few of our players were having a bad day," Mihailovic told TOI from Japan."We realized our mistakes in counterattack. Also, figuring out how to block against this excellent, young and talented player, Mubarak from Qatar, was the biggest problem for us until the last moment. He was the biggest problem for us until the last moment. "And I must say that this is a future star in the world of volleyball," the Serbian, also an FIVB instructor, said.Asked about India not consolidating their lead in the fifth set, Mihailovic said the Indian players lack international experience. "Unfortunately, our players have a significant lack of international experience. It's completely different when you play in India in festival matches, leagues, or outdoors. And when you arrive in an important competition with important teams".The coach said the significance of the win was that it came against Qatar, who arrived for the Games after a three-week training stint in Slovenia. "Qatar participated in the last two world championships and they also trained with the Japanese national team."On the big win serving as a confidence booster, he said, "Of course, it's good. Tomorrow morning we have training. We will do a short analysis of the game and give them a few more pieces of information regarding the match during training. From tomorrow afternoon, all the focus is how to prepare our game against Pakistan in the best possible way.""We know Pakistan very well. Pakistan knows us very well. We played last year in the Cava, in the Central Asian Volleyball Association tournament in Uzbekistan. We won the game 3-0. This is one advantage because they remember that last game. We won, let's say, in the good way, very easily. So now the question is whether we can repeat this," the coach added.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.