HANGZHOU: Japan beat Qatar 3-1 in the first round of Group D in the Hangzhou Asian Games men's football competitions here.

Despite being composed mostly of college players, the Japanese side is still a strong title contender, reports Xinhua.

Japan scored from a free kick just two minutes into the game, and extended their lead to 2-0 in the 25th minute.

After the restart, Qatar strengthened the attack and scored from long range to recover their hope with more than 10 minutes left.

In the final stage of the game, Japan scored again to seal a 3-1 win.

Also on Wednesday, two group matches in Group C were canceled due to the withdrawal of the Afghan and Syrian teams, and Uzbekistan and Hong Kong, China progressed to the round of 16 in advance.