India beaten 1-3 by China in Asian Games men's team semi, settle for bronze

India's men's badminton team lost 1-3 to China in the semifinals of the Asian Games at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on September 23, 2026, and accepted a bronze medal.

Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty were beaten by higher-ranked opponents while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the only Indian winners in the tie; India had been silver medallists at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, where they also lost to China in the final.

In the opening rubber world No. 14 Lakshya Sen was defeated 16-21, 18-21 by world No. 6 Shi Yu Qi; Lakshya began strongly with an 8-4 lead, saw the match level at 8-8 and 13-13, trailed 16-17 before Shi closed out the first game with four straight points and finished the second after earning two match points at 19-18.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty revived India with a win in the first doubles, beating reigning world champions Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20; the Indian pair opened 4-0, led 11-8 at the interval in the first game, and held a late advantage in the second before converting their third match point when the Chinese side went wide.

Ayush, ranked world No. 20, lost the second singles 19-21, 13-21 to world No. 12 Li Shi Feng; Ayush held an 11-10 interval lead in the first game but Li mounted a comeback, then surged to a 5-0 start in the second and converted on his seventh match point after building a 19-13 lead.

The deciding second doubles saw Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun, the world No. 25 Indian pair, go down 16-21, 21-17, 9-21 to the scratch Chinese combination of He Ji Ting and Liu Yi; He Ji Ting had been a late replacement following the sudden illness of Chen Boyang, and both Chinese players have won world championship silver medals with their respective partners.

China sealed the tie to secure a place in the final, while India still achieved a notable outcome by claiming back-to-back Asian Games team medals for the first time in 40 years, following bronze finishes in 1982 and 1986.