Asian Games 2026: India's badminton report card; Know how PV Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag & others performed

PV Sindhu’s campaign ends in quarter-finals after loss to Chen Yufei.

India’s badminton campaign at the Asian Games 2026 ended on Sunday, September 27, with all remaining Indian shuttlers eliminated in the quarter-finals of the individual events at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

While India secured a bronze medal in the men’s team event, the women’s team bowed out in the quarter-finals. Moreover, the country failed to win an individual badminton medal at the Asian Games for the first time in 12 years.

Last time, at the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea, India failed to win any individual badminton medals. Here’s a look back at everything that happened for Indian badminton at the 2026 Games:

Men’s team wins bronze

The men’s team provided India’s only badminton medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. After beginning their campaign with a 3-0 win over Bangladesh, the Indian team defeated Japan 3-0 in the quarter-finals to secure a medal.

India’s run ended in the semi-finals against China, who won the tie 3-1. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced one of India’s team event highlights by defeating world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20.

However, China won the other three matches to book their place in the final, leaving India with the bronze medal. The result gave India their second consecutive Asian Games men’s team medal.

Sindhu and Unnati reach the quarter-finals

PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda produced strong runs in women’s singles before their campaigns ended in the last eight.

Sindhu began her campaign with a 21-19, 21-14 victory over Chiu Pin-Chian before producing a dominant 21-9, 21-13 win against seventh seed Tomoka Miyazaki. In the quarter-finals, she pushed fourth seed Chen Yufei but eventually lost 11-21, 21-18, 10-21.

Unnati defeated North Korea’s Yu Mi Song, Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching and sixth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani to reach the quarter-finals. Her run ended against third seed Akane Yamaguchi, who won 21-16, 14-21, 21-17.

Treesa-Gayatri & Dhruv-Tanisha bow out in quarters

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were among India’s standout performers in the individual events. They first defeated Hong Kong’s Lui Lok Lok and Tsang Hiu Yan before securing another victory over Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto — the same pair they had beaten earlier in the women’s team event.

Their run ended against Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, who won 21-18, 21-9 in the quarter-finals.

Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also reached the last eight after winning both their opening matches. They pushed top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dongping of China to three games before losing 14-21, 21-18, 18-21.

Satwik-Chirag suffer shock individual exit

The men’s doubles defending champions endured one of the biggest shocks of India’s individual campaign. Fourth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were knocked out in the opening round by Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeratsakul.

The defending champions won the first game 21-12 but failed to maintain their momentum, losing the next two 19-21, 14-21. The defeat brought an unexpected end to the Hangzhou gold medallists’ title defence.

Men’s singles campaign ends early

India’s men’s singles campaign also ended before the quarter-finals. Lakshya Sen was knocked out in the Round of 32 after losing to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 12-21, 21-15, 14-21.

Ayush Shetty booked his place in the pre-quarterfinals with a commanding 21-7, 21-7 win over Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev. However, his run ended against third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who prevailed 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 in a closely contested three-game encounter.

Women’s team bow out in quarter-finals

The women’s team began their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan in the pre-quarters. However, their run ended against Japan in the quarter-finals, where India were defeated 1-3.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand secured India’s only win of the tie, but Japan claimed the remaining three matches to seal a 3-1 victory and book their place in the semi-finals. The result meant India missed out on a women’s team medal at the Asian Games.

India ends 12-year individual medal run

With all four quarter-finalists eliminated, India’s individual badminton campaign ended without a medal. It marks the first time since the 2014 Asian Games that India has failed to win an individual badminton medal at the continental event.

Since then, Indian shuttlers have maintained a consistent presence on the podium, with Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy among those to have won individual medals at previous editions.

The men’s team bronze medal in Aichi-Nagoya ensured that India’s badminton campaign would not end without a medal.

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