The Indian women’s badminton team faced a tough defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Asian Games, losing 1-3 to Japan, the defending champions. The match took place at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, where India fought hard against stronger opponents but ultimately could not secure a win. This loss marks a disappointing 16-year stretch without a medal for India at the Asian Games, with their last podium finish occurring in 2014, when they won a bronze alongside Japan.
As they prepared for the match on September 22, India anticipated a difficult challenge against a highly-skilled Japanese team, which included several players ranked in the top ten globally. The Indian squad hoped for a strong performance from veteran player PV Sindhu, who faced off against World No. 3, Akane Yamaguchi, in the first match.
The match between Sindhu and Yamaguchi turned out to be an exciting battle. Yamaguchi initially took a lead of 17-13, but Sindhu showed her determination by coming back to clinch the first game 23-21 after 26 intense minutes. However, the physical toll of that game seemed to affect her in the following sets. In an effort to finish quickly, Sindhu played aggressively but made too many mistakes, losing the second game 18-21. In the deciding game, she struggled for stamina and fell behind before losing 11-21.
With this first match loss, India faced an uphill battle. Young talent Unnati Hooda took to the court next but was unable to overcome World No. 7 Tomoka Miyazaki, losing in straight games. Although Unnati initially took an 11-4 lead in the second game, she ultimately lost both sets 16-21 and then 12-21.
At this point, India was down 0-2, which made the tie difficult, but Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who won bronze medals at the World Championships, managed to score a victory against the World No. 3 duo of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto. They won their match with a score of 21-17, 21-16, showing great potential for the future.
Despite this small victory, the day ended on a low note for India as Tanvi Sharma lost her match to former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, with scores of 12-21 and 10-21. With the loss, Japan advanced to the semi-finals, where they will take on South Korea, who defeated Malaysia 3-1 in their quarter-final match.
