Daijiworld Media Network - Nagoya
Nagoya, Sep 27: India's badminton campaign at the Asian Games 2026 came to an end on Sunday after PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda suffered defeats in the women's singles quarter-finals, while the Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto pairs also bowed out in the last eight.
Sindhu, ranked 11th in the world, fought hard against China's world No. 4 Chen Yufei before losing 11-21, 21-18, 21-10. The Indian made an impressive start, taking an early 7-2 lead and going into the interval 11-8 ahead before claiming the opening game.
Chen responded strongly in the second game, initially leading 8-4. Sindhu fought back to move 11-10 ahead at the interval, but the Chinese shuttler regained control to level the match. Chen then dominated the decider to secure a place in the semi-finals.
The defeat ended Sindhu's bid for a second Asian Games women's singles medal. She had won silver at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.
Earlier, 19-year-old Unnati Hooda put up a strong challenge against Japan's world No. 3 and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi before losing 21-16, 14-21, 21-17.
Yamaguchi took the opening game, but Hooda responded impressively in the second, staying in the rallies and forcing a decider. The two were level at 5-5 early in the final game before Yamaguchi moved 11-8 ahead at the interval. Hooda remained within touching distance but the Japanese shuttler held her nerve to close out the match.
In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand's campaign ended with a 21-18, 21-9 loss to Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The Indian pair had earlier secured a place in the quarter-finals by defeating Japan's world No. 3 combination of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also bowed out after a three-game battle against China's Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. The Chinese pair won 21-14, 18-21, 21-18.
As a result, India failed to secure a medal in any of the five individual badminton events at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. The men's team bronze remains India's only badminton medal at the ongoing edition.
At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, India won three badminton medals — a men's team silver, a men's doubles gold for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and a men's singles bronze for HS Prannoy.