The Indian men’s badminton team secured a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2026 after losing 3-1 to the People’s Republic of China in the semi-finals in Aichi, Japan, on Wednesday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered India’s only win of the tie, defeating reigning world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 in the men’s doubles match.
In the opening match, Lakshya Sen went down 21-16, 21-18 to Shi Yuqi. Lakshya made a strong start, but Shi fought back to take the opening game. The Indian shuttler also challenged strongly in the second game, drawing level at 16-16, before the Chinese player closed out the match.
Satwik and Chirag then produced a strong performance against the world No. 3 Chinese pair. The Indian duo dominated the opening game and maintained their composure in the second after Liang and Wang saved two match points to level the score at 20-20.
Satwik and Chirag converted their third match point to win the game and level the tie at 1-1.
Ayush Shetty was unable to put India ahead, losing 21-19, 21-13 to world No. 12 Li Shi Feng, giving China a 2-1 lead.
With India needing a victory in the fourth match to stay in contention, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun faced He Ji Ting and Liu Yi.
The Indian pair won the second game but eventually went down 21-16, 17-21, 21-9, as China sealed a 3-1 victory and progressed to the final.
India had assured itself of a medal after defeating hosts Japan 3-0 in the quarter-finals, with Lakshya Sen, Satwik-Chirag and Ayush Shetty winning their respective matches.
The bronze marks India’s second consecutive men’s badminton team medal at the Asian Games. India had won silver at the Hangzhou 2023 Games after losing 3-2 to China in the gold-medal clash.
-ANI
