Due to incessant rain, the men's cricket semifinalists for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games were decided without a single pitch being thrown.

All four men's quarterfinal matches scheduled to be held at the cricket venue, a converted baseball stadium at the Korogi Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on September 28 and 29 were canceled due to rain.

With no reserve days scheduled for this tournament, the rule stating that "in the event of a rain cancellation, the team with the higher world ranking advances to the next round" was applied to determine the semifinalists.

As a result, higher-seeded India and Pakistan advanced to the semifinals early in the matches on September 28, and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh similarly confirmed their spots in the semifinals without playing on September 29.

The matchups for the semifinals, set to take place on October 1, were decided as India versus Sri Lanka and Pakistan versus Bangladesh.

Athletes from lower-ranked nations, who had to wrap up their tournament without even getting to play a match, expressed mixed reactions of disappointment.

Malaysian national team player Virandeep Singh took to his social media service (SNS) to express his regret, saying, "I was so sad that I just waited wrapped in a towel and couldn't even go to the stadium."

Additionally, Aakash Chopra, a former Indian national team player and cricket commentator, pointed out the need for improvements in scheduling and operations, stating, "It is regrettable that advancing teams is decided solely by rankings without playing matches."

Foreign media outlets also spotlighted this situation one after another.

Cricket-specialized media outlet 'Cricketnews' criticized, "Drainage issues and weather variables arising from hastily converting and using an existing baseball stadium are damaging the image of the cricket event in emerging Asian markets."

If the final scheduled for October 3 is also prevented from taking place by rain, joint gold medals will be awarded.

Indian daily newspaper 'The Indian Express' disclosed the response it received after making a formal inquiry to the organizing committee of the tournament, pointing out, "A tournament schedule that failed to even secure reserve days caused this disruption."

At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games as well, heavy rain poured during the final between India and Afghanistan, which ultimately could not be resumed, and India, holding a higher world ranking, took home the gold medal.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)