India blank Kazakhstan 3-0 to set Asian Games women's badminton quarterfinal with Japan
India defeated Kazakhstan 3-0 in the women’s team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Nagoya on Sunday (September 20, 2026), earning a quarterfinal meeting with hosts Japan.
The tie was played at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, where P.V. Sindhu, Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma each won in straight games to complete the sweep without dropping a set.
P.V. Sindhu, ranked 11th in the world, opened the tie by beating Kamila Smagulova 21-7, 21-9 in 24 minutes; Smagulova is ranked 426. Unnati, the world No. 24, defeated Alissa Kuleshova (WR 866) 21-7, 21-10 in 22 minutes, and Tanvi Sharma, world No. 26, closed the tie with a 21-5, 21-10 victory over Diana Namenova (WR 1067).
Japan provide the next challenge, with three singles players inside the world top 10: Akane Yamaguchi (No. 3), Tomoka Miyazaki (No. 7) and Nozomi Okuhara (No. 10). Likely match-ups mentioned include Sindhu versus Yamaguchi, Unnati against Miyazaki, and India’s doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand potentially facing Japan’s world No. 3 combination of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
Sindhu, making her fourth Asian Games appearance at age 31 and holding a team bronze and an individual silver from previous editions, spoke about the challenge and her role in the squad. "We have a good team, and Japan also is a good, strong team, so it’s going to be a tough one," she said. "Each match is important and it is going to be a good match, so hoping for the best, and I hope we win." She added: "A lot of girls are playing at the Asian Games for the first time, so I am taking it in a responsible way. I would tell them what is good and what mistakes they are making, or how they are playing. It’s good to always guide them. Being an experienced player, I think that is a responsibility."
India entered the Nagoya event having returned empty-handed from the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 after losing to Thailand in the quarterfinals. The nation's only women's team medal at the Asian Games came in Incheon 2014, when Saina Nehwal, Sindhu and the Ashwini Ponnappa–Sikki Reddy pairing helped India beat Thailand 3-2 before losing 1-3 to South Korea in the semifinals.
India will meet host Japan in the quarterfinal; should they progress, a potential semifinal opponent would be South Korea, whose line-up includes world No. 1 An Se-young and the world champion doubles combination of Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee.
