India's 24-year Asian Games tennis streak ends after disappointing doubles campaign in Aichi-Nagoya

Both Indian men’s doubles crashed out in the quarters

India’s long-standing streak of medalling in men’s doubles at every edition of the Asian Games since 2002 ended on Wednesday after Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Asian Games 2026.

The Indian pair were beaten 6-7(5), 3-6 by Chinese Taipei’s Ho Chenjui and Hsu Yu-hsiou in the last-eight clash at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center.

Earlier in the tournament, top seeds Anirudh Chandrasekar and N. Sriram Balaji suffered a quarter-final loss to China’s Zhang Tianhui and Jiang Fumin.

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This marked an end to India’s pursuit of a seventh consecutive Asiad medal, ending a 24-year streak that began at the Busan 2002 Games.

India had won a medal in the men’s doubles event at the continental tournament in six successive editions, but that streak came to an end at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

India’s medal run ends

The men’s doubles event had been one of the most successful events for India in terms of medals. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won a gold medal at the Busan 2002 Games. The pair then defended their title in Doha 2006.

That streak was maintained by Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh, who once again won a gold medal at the Guangzhou 2010 Games. Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh then won a silver medal in the Incheon 2014 edition.

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Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan won a bronze medal at the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Games. Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan claimed silver at the Hangzhou 2022 Games, marking their sixth straight medal at the Asiads.

Now, Bhambri and Suresh’s quarter-final exit has brought an end to that nearly three-decade streak. The pair gave tough competition to Ho and Hsu in the first set, but the Chinese Taipei players edged it on the tiebreaks.

Ho and Hsu then won the second set with ease, booking a place in the semi-finals.

Apart from the men’s doubles event, the Indian pairs also lost in the women’s and mixed doubles events, meaning that India will not win a tennis doubles medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

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