Ichinomiya City, September 22 The Indian men’s badminton team has secured a semi-final berth at the 2026 Asian Games. The Indian team put up a strong performance in the quarter-finals, defeating Japan 3-0.
With this victory, the Indian men’s team has secured a medal at the 2026 Asian Games. Lakshya Sen faced a tough challenge from Kodai Naraoka in the opening singles match.
The doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then won, bringing India closer to reaching the semi-finals (last four). Finally, Ayush Shetty defeated Koki Watanabe in straight games to seal India’s victory.
After losing the first game 11-21, Lakshya struggled to make a strong comeback and won the second game 21-5, taking the match to the final. In the third game, Naraoka regained his lead and took a five-point lead, but Lakshya made a brilliant comeback. He equalized the score at 19-19 and then won the next two points to win 11-21, 21-5, 21-19.
Next, world No. 5 Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty faced world No. 9 Japanese pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. The Indian pair won the closely contested first game 21-18. The second game was a thrilling one. Japan saved three match points to make the score 20-20. Satwik and Chirag maintained their composure and eventually won 24-22, giving India a 2-0 lead.
The responsibility of finishing the match fell to Ayush, and the young Indian player performed brilliantly against Watanabe. He controlled the first game from the start and won it 21-10. Watanabe tried to make a comeback in the second game, but Ayush maintained his dominance and went into the halfway stage with an 11-5 lead. He eventually won the match 21-10, 21-19, advancing India to the semi-finals and ensuring at least a bronze medal for the team.
India began its campaign with a 3-0 win over Bangladesh in the Round of 16. The men’s team will now face the winner of the quarter-final between China and South Korea in Wednesday’s semi-finals. This result also gives India a chance to improve on its performance in the previous tournament, where the men’s team won the silver medal after losing the final to China.
