Asian Games 2026: Sindhu and Unnati bow out as India exit badminton in quarter-finals

PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda were eliminated in the women’s singles quarter-finals at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday, and India’s challenge in badminton ended with four quarter-final exits across singles and doubles.

India’s badminton contingent had claimed three medals at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou — a men’s team silver, a men’s doubles gold for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and a men’s singles bronze for HS Prannoy — but failed to progress beyond the quarter-final stage in the events covered here.

PV Sindhu lost to Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Chen Yu Fei 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 after being required to play her third match in 24 hours because of a cramped schedule; Sindhu entered the match with a 7-9 head-to-head record against Chen. Sindhu opened strongly, moving from 9-2 to lead 11-8 at the mid-game break and extending to 18-11 before closing the first game, but Chen recovered to take the second and then ran away in the decider, winning 10 of the next 11 points after an early 4-0 start.

A social media post captured the moment: "End of the road for PV Sindhu 💔🇮🇳The two-time Olympic & Asiad medallist bows out in the Women's Singles quarter-final at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.Heads up, champ. India is always with you! 🙏#AsianGames2026 #AichiNagoya2026 #TeamIndia #Badminton #PVSindhu pic.twitter.com/yGzJDddC8h"

Nineteen-year-old Unnati Hooda was beaten by three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi 16-21, 21-14, 17-21 after a match in which Yamaguchi produced an early run of eight straight points to move from 3-4 to 11-4 in the first game and closed that game after earning four game points. Unnati recovered in the second, leveling at 7-7 before taking eight successive points to force a decider; the decider remained tight early but Yamaguchi edged clear and converted the chances created by a few late unforced errors to seal the win.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were eliminated in the women’s doubles quarter-finals by the World No. 5 pairing of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, 18-21, 9-21, with the Malaysians identified in the report as 2025 World Championships silver medallists. The Indians recovered from 3-8 to 10-10 in the first game and were level at 14-14 before a front-court lapse and successive errors allowed Pearly and Thinaah to move ahead; the second game saw the Indians fall behind quickly to 4-11 and the Malaysians reach 12 match points before closing out the contest.

In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto went down to world No. 1 pair Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dongping 14-21, 21-18, 18-21. The Chinese duo controlled the first game and held an 11-9 interval lead, the Indians responded to take the second, and the decider saw Feng and Huang recover from a 6-12 deficit to withstand a late fightback that reduced the gap to 16-17 before the world No. 1 pair secured the win.

All four quarter-final exits in the matches reported left India with only one medal at the Asian Games 2026 — the bronze in the men’s team event — concluding the nation’s badminton campaign in Aichi-Nagoya with that solitary podium finish.