India’s hopes of securing an individual badminton medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 came to an end on Sunday after all remaining shuttlers were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
P.V. Sindhu and Unnati Hooda bowed out of the women’s singles competition, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and the mixed doubles combination of Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto also suffered defeats in the last eight.
Sindhu came closest to extending her campaign after making an impressive start against China’s Chen Yu Fei. The 31-year-old, who has won two Asian Games medals, took the opening game comfortably but could not maintain her advantage.
Chen fought back to defeat Sindhu 11-21, 21-18, 21-10 in a contest lasting one hour and 15 minutes. Sindhu remained competitive in the second game before the Chinese player took control of the deciding game to seal her semifinal place.
Earlier, Unnati pushed Japan’s three-time World Champion Akane Yamaguchi through a demanding three-game battle lasting 66 minutes.
Yamaguchi claimed the opening game 21-16 before Unnati responded strongly to take the second 21-14. The Indian remained in contention in the decider, but the experienced Japanese player held her nerve to win it 21-17 and close out the match.
India also came close to progressing in mixed doubles. Dhruv and Tanisha challenged the Chinese World No. 1 pairing of Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dongping before going down in three games.
The Indians lost the opening game 14-21 but responded by taking the second 21-18. The deciding game was another tight affair, with the Chinese pair eventually winning 21-18.
In women’s doubles, World Championships bronze medallists Treesa and Gayatri were unable to overcome Malaysia’s World No. 5 combination of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The Malaysian pair secured an 21-18, 21-9 victory to advance.
The quarterfinal exits mean India will finish the Asian Games without a medal from badminton’s individual events for the first time since the 2014 edition in Incheon.
India’s only badminton medal at the current Games came in the men’s team event. The side secured bronze after its campaign ended with a semifinal defeat against China.
