Asian Games 2026: Quimcy Joaquim Dsouza one win from India's first Teqball medal

Quimcy Joaquim Dsouza reached the women's singles semifinals in Teqball at the Asian Games on Friday (September 18, 2026), moving one victory away from securing a historic medal for India at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center.

Making her Asian Games debut, the 24-year-old Dsouza upset top-seeded Yuina Sakamoto of Japan 2-1 (10-12 12-11 13-11) in a 43-minute opening Group A match and followed that with a 2-0 (12-9 12-7) win over Cambodia's Koemyean DY in 24 minutes to top the group and advance to the semifinals.

By virtue of finishing first in Group A, Dsouza received a bye through the quarterfinals and is scheduled to face Indonesia's Sumaya in the semifinals on Saturday (September 19, 2026); a victory there would guarantee India its first medal in Teqball, while a defeat would still leave her a chance to contest the bronze on Sunday (September 20, 2026).

In mixed doubles, Dsouza partnered Mohammed Anas Imran Beg, and the pair exited the quarterfinals after a 0-2 defeat (7-12 10-12) to Vietnam's Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen and Gia Nghi Trinh, but they remained in medal contention by winning a repechage tie.

The Indian duo's mixed doubles campaign began with a 2-0 (12-10 12-3) win over the Philippines' Jhoana Abulencia and Prince Augustin, then included a 1-2 loss (8-12 12-7 10-12), followed by back-to-back 0-2 defeats (3-12 8-12) to Cambodia's Thuonvireak Bun and Sophornraksmey Yorn and to Thailand's Phakpong Dejaroen and Suphawadi Wongkhamchan, before a 2-0 (12-1 12-6) victory over Salman Alebraheem and Hessah Alfailakawi secured a quarterfinal place.

In the repechage round, Quimcy and Beg beat Abulencia and Augustin again, 2-0 (12-3 12-6), which kept them in contention to finish on the podium on Sunday (September 20, 2026).

Teqball is one of six sports making their debut at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games alongside Mixed Martial Arts, Padel, Surfing, BMX Freestyle and Virtual Taekwondo; the sport was created in Hungary in 2014 by Gabor Borsanyi, Gyorgy Gattyan and Viktor Huszar, held its first official World Championships in Budapest in 2017, and is played by rallying a standard size five football across a curved table using any part of the body except hands and arms, the table divided by a transparent plexiglass.

Dsouza's immediate next match is the women's singles semifinal against Sumaya on Saturday (September 19, 2026), with the losing semifinalist scheduled to have a bronze-medal opportunity on Sunday (September 20, 2026), and the mixed doubles pair will contest their remaining medal-stage matches on Sunday (September 20, 2026).