The Indian men’s team, which won the silver medal at the previous edition in Hangzhou, secured a bronze medal this time. India were beaten 3-1 by China in the semifinal, while Lakshya and Ayush Shetty lost their respective singles matches. In the women’s event, the Indian team missed out on a medal after losing to Japan in the quarterfinals. PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda were beaten by their Japanese opponents.
Indian players will now look to make up for that disappointment in the individual events. World No. 14 Lakshya has endured first-round defeats in several matches leading into the Asian Games, although he produced a strong performance against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinal. He was unable to maintain that momentum in the semifinal against China’s Shi Yu Qi.
Lakshya received a bye in the first round and will face Singapore’s former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the second round. If he defeats Loh, Lakshya could meet world No. 1 Jonathan Christie of Indonesia.
Ayush, who defeated Shi Yu Qi at the Delhi World Championships, has also received a first-round bye. He could face Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in the third round.
Sindhu has also been handed a challenging draw. The two-time Olympic champion received a bye in the first round and will face seventh-seeded Japan player Tomoka Miyazaki in the second round. A victory would set up a potential meeting with China’s Chen Yufei, the Tokyo Olympic champion.
Unnati will begin her campaign against North Korea’s Yu Mi Song. She could face Indonesia’s world No. 6 Putri Kusuma Wardani in the third round.
In men’s doubles, defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have a relatively easier route to the last four. They will face Thailand’s P. Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeratsakul in the first round. They could then meet Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin, followed by South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae if they progress.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face Hong Kong’s Lok Lok Lui and Hiu Yan Sang. The World Championships bronze medallists could meet Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in the second round. The Japanese pair are ranked third in the world.
India’s only medal so far has come from the men’s team in the form of bronze. At the Hangzhou Games in 2023, India won three badminton medals, with Satwiksairaj and Chirag claiming gold, the men’s team taking silver and H. S. Prannoy winning bronze in men’s singles.
The individual draws now put Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu and the other Indian shuttlers in a fresh battle for medals, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their Asian Games title defence.
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