Asian Games 2026: India women bow out after 1-3 quarterfinal loss to Japan

 World Championships bronze-winning pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced a clinical performance but the singles players faltered as the Indian women's badminton team bowed out of the Asian Games with a 1-3 loss to Japan in the quarterfinals here on Tuesday.

Two-time Olympic-medallist PV Sindhu, who started the proceedings, was off to a fighting start but could not sustain the pressure against world No.3 Akane Yamaguchi, losing 23-21, 18-21, 6-21 in the opening singles clash.

Unnati Hooda then couldn't find a way to go past 2022 world junior champion and current world no.7 Tomoka Miyazaki, going down 16-21, 18-21 as Japan moved 2-0 ahead.

Treesa and Gayatri, who recently won their maiden bronze at the New Delhi World Championships, then kept India alive with a 21-17, 21-16 victory over Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in the first doubles clash as India pulled one back.

However, young shuttler Tanvi Sharma then went down 12-21, 10-21 to former world champion Nozomi Okuhara in the third singles as Japan sealed a 3-1 victory.

Sindhu was looking good after she recovered from a 13-17 deficit to clinch the opening game 23-21 against Yamaguchi.

The battle between the two former world champions saw them battle it out in some exciting rallies, averaging 35-36 shots.

Sindhu earned a game point but a wrong judgement at the back-line allowed Yamaguchi to make a comeback.

The Indian grabbed another game point after her opponent found the net and sealed it with a cross-court forehand winner to grab the early initiative.

After the change of sides, Yamaguchi held a two-point lead at the mid-game interval. Sindhu threatened to make another comeback from 12-17 down, but the Japanese held her nerve to take the second game 21-18.

It all went downhill for Sindhu in the decider as she fell 6-14 behind.

Eventually, Yamaguchi earned 10 match points and sealed the contest with a precise return.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)