Aichi-Nagoya, 22 September (H.S.): The Indian women’s badminton team’s campaign at the 2026 Asian Games came to an end after a 1-3 defeat to Japan in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Despite some promising moments from PV Sindhu and the pair of Tanishа Sharma and Tarun, India were unable to overcome a strong Japanese challenge.

In the opening tie of the quarter-final, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu faced Akane Yamaguchi. The opening game was fiercely contested, with Sindhu initially keeping pace with her Japanese opponent at 5-5. Yamaguchi, however, held a 11-9 advantage at the interval.

Sindhu fought back to level the score at 12-12 and later drew level again at 17-17 and 18-18. The contest remained tightly fought until the closing stages, with Sindhu eventually edging out Yamaguchi 23-21 to take the opening game.

The second game was equally competitive. Yamaguchi led 11-9 at the interval and extended her advantage to 17-12. Sindhu mounted a comeback to reduce the deficit to 16-18, but Yamaguchi regained control and won the game 21-18 to level the match.

Yamaguchi dominated the decider from the outset, establishing an 11-4 lead at the interval. Sindhu was unable to produce another comeback, as the Japanese shuttler closed out the deciding game 21-11 to give Japan a 1-0 lead.

In the second tie, Unnati Hooda took on Tomoka Miyazaki. Hooda held a narrow 11-10 lead in the opening game, but Miyazaki responded strongly to win it 21-16.

Hooda made an impressive start to the second game and led 11-4 at the interval. Miyazaki, however, fought her way back and narrowed the gap to 15-13 before taking control of the contest. The Japanese player won the second game 21-18, extending Japan’s lead to 2-0.

India then staged a comeback through the experienced doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who faced Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.

The Indian pair led 11-10 at the interval and went on to win the opening game 21-17. They maintained their momentum in the second game, taking an 11-8 lead before continuing their strong performance to secure another 21-17 victory.

The win brought India back into contention and reduced Japan’s lead to 2-1.

India’s hopes then rested on Tanishа Sharma, but she was unable to overcome Nozomi Okuhara. Okuhara won the opening game 21-12 and established an 11-4 lead at the interval in the second. She maintained her control to win the game 21-10, sealing a 3-1 victory for Japan and ending India’s campaign in the women’s team event.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar