India fought valiantly before going down 1-2 to Kuwait in the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers in Kuwait, and thus missed the bus for the final round by a whisker. A win or a draw would have seen the Indian boys through to the final round of the AFC U-16 Championship in Thailand next year but the defeat in their last Group A match to a superior home side last night dashed their hopes. India and Tajikistan finished on seven points each behind Kuwait (12) but the Central Asian side made it to the final round on the basis of a better goal difference. Tajikistan have a goal difference of 16 as against nine of India. Both sides played out a 1-1 draw in their group match.