Aichi-Nagoya, 23 September (H.S.): India’s campaign in the men’s team badminton event at the 2026 Asian Games ended with a bronze medal after the team suffered a 1-3 defeat to China in the semifinal at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Wednesday.

The medal marks only the second Asian Games medal for India in badminton. The country’s previous medal came at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, held in 2023, when Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won gold in the men’s doubles.

India had secured its first-ever Asian Games medal in the men’s team event in Aichi-Nagoya after defeating Japan in the quarterfinals. However, the challenge ended in the last four against a strong Chinese side.

In the opening match, India’s leading singles player Lakshya Sen faced former world champion Shi Yuqi. After a long and demanding contest, Sen went down 16-21, 18-21, handing China the early advantage.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then brought India back into the tie. The experienced Indian pair defeated familiar opponents Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 in straight games to level the contest at 1-1.

In the third match, young Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty took on reigning Asian Games men’s singles champion Li Shifeng. Li prevailed 21-19, 21-13 to restore China’s lead.

India needed victory in the second doubles match to stay alive, but M.R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan were beaten by He Jiting and Liu Yi 16-21, 21-17, 9-21.

The result gave China a 3-1 victory and secured its place in the final, while India had to settle for the bronze medal.

A day earlier, India’s women’s team had also bowed out of the medal race after suffering a 1-3 quarterfinal defeat to Japan.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar