India finished its men’s badminton team campaign at the Asian Games 2026 with a bronze medal after suffering a 1-3 defeat against China in the semifinals on Wednesday.
The last-four contest at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium saw India briefly draw level after losing the opening singles match, but China took control of the remaining ties to secure victory.
Despite the semifinal setback in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, India claimed its second consecutive Asian Games medal in the men’s team event. The country had won silver at Hangzhou 2023 after losing to China in the final.
India had already guaranteed itself a medal at this edition by defeating host Japan in the quarterfinals.
Lakshya Sen opened India’s semifinal campaign against former world champion Shi Yuqi. The match proved demanding for the Indian singles star, with Shi eventually taking a 21-16, 21-18 victory to hand China an early advantage.
India responded strongly through Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the first doubles contest. The Indian pair faced familiar opponents Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang and produced a straight-games victory.
Satwik and Chirag dominated the opening game 21-11 before facing a much closer battle in the second. They eventually prevailed 22-20 to level the overall semifinal at 1-1.
China regained control when Ayush Shetty faced defending Asian Games men’s singles champion Li Shifeng.
Shetty challenged Li in the opening game but went down 19-21. The Chinese player then took command of the second, winning 21-13 and restoring his team’s lead.
That left India needing victory from M. R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan in the second doubles match to keep the semifinal alive.
The Indian combination faced He Ji Ting and Liu Yi and lost the opening game 16-21. Arjun and Hariharan responded by taking the second 21-17, forcing a deciding game.
However, the Chinese pair dominated the third game 21-9, completing the victory and ending India’s bid to reach a second successive Asian Games men’s team final.
India’s women’s team had earlier missed out on a medal after losing 1-3 to Japan in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
