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India’s badminton journey at the Asian Games 2026 has come to an unfortunate end. The team was eliminated from the Asian Games after a 1-3 defeat to host nation Japan in the quarter-finals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Tuesday.
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The PV Sindhu-led side had advanced comfortably with a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan in the round of 16 but found the Japanese too strong in the last eight. The two-time Olympic medallist, Sindhu, opened the tie against world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi. She edged a tight first game 23-21 but could not sustain the momentum, losing the next two games 18-21 and 11-21 to hand Japan a 1-0 lead.
PV Sindhu & team crash out of Asian Games 2026 after losing to Japan; Treesa-Gayatri only winners
Unnati Hooda then went down 16-21, 18-21 to Tomoka Miyazaki, putting Japan 2-0 ahead. World Championships bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand kept India’s hopes alive with a solid 21-17, 21-16 victory over the highly ranked pair of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
Their win reduced the deficit to 1-2. However, young Tanvi Sharma was unable to force a decider, falling 12-21, 10-21 to former world champion Nozomi Okuhara as Japan sealed the tie 3-1. The unfortunate result means India will leave the women’s team event without a medal. Japan went on to win three of the four matches, which was required to reach the semifinals.
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