Quimcy Dsouza falls short in two bronze matches as India leave teqball medal‑less at Asian Games
Quimcy Dsouza played two bronze‑medal matches at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Sunday, September 20, but India left teqball without a medal.
India had two bronze medals within reach in teqball’s Asian Games debut, in the women's singles and the mixed doubles, but finished fourth in both events at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center amid a noisy arena. In the women's singles bronze match Quimcy faced Japan's World No. 7 Yuina Sakamoto and the scoreline read 12-11, 12-11 in Sakamoto's favour.
Sakamoto jumped to a 5-1 lead early in the singles contest, forcing Quimcy onto the defensive before Quimcy began finding awkward angles and reduced the deficit point by point. Quimcy levelled at 11-11 in the opening set, but Sakamoto held her nerve to take that set 12-11.
In the second set Quimcy carried momentum and reached 10-9, one point from forcing a deciding set, but Sakamoto tightened her touch and defence and again closed out the set 12-11. After the final point Quimcy sat on her haunches, visibly shaken and nearly in tears.
Quimcy returned to court minutes later for the mixed‑doubles bronze alongside Mohammed Anas Beg against Vietnam's Tan Ngyuen and Gia Trinh. India lost the first set 12-9 and Quimcy then suffered back trouble that required physio treatment during the break.
The physio worked on Quimcy for 10 to 15 minutes after a time-out was converted into an injury break; she returned to the court barely able to walk and was reportedly unable to lift her right leg sufficiently to execute smashes. Beg also struggled with nerves and miscontrolled the ball at key moments as the Vietnamese pair pulled further away and India lost the second set 12-6.
Quimcy Dsouza is a 24‑year‑old from Mumbai who began in athletics representing Maharashtra and later played Under‑19 football for the state before taking up teqball in 2022. She is a seven‑time national champion, founded the Teqball Club of Bangalore, works as a test engineer at Decathlon in Bengaluru, has reached a career‑high world ranking of No. 24 and finished ninth at the 2026 World Championships in Romania.
There will be no Indian medal in teqball at its Asian Games debut, but Quimcy's two matches — including her return to court in mixed doubles despite a back injury — brought attention to the sport for India.
