Asian Games: India end without an individual badminton medal for the first time in 12 years

India's individual badminton events at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games ended on Sunday, 27 September 2026, without a medal. The Hindu, The Times of India and India Today all reported that no Indian reached a semi-final. The Hindu said a semi-final place would have assured a medal.

India Today said it was the first time in 12 years that the contingent had returned without an individual medal. The last blank year it listed was 2014, a campaign in which it named Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and Saina Nehwal. Its list since then is: 2018, PV Sindhu silver and Saina Nehwal bronze; 2022, H.S. Prannoy bronze in men's singles; 2026, no individual medal. It described this year's squad as led by Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, and did not give Sen's result.

At the previous Games in Hangzhou, The Hindu and The Times of India said India won three badminton medals: men's team silver, men's doubles gold for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Prannoy's men's singles bronze. This time the men's team took bronze. India Today said that team lost 1-3 to defending champions China in the semi-final on 23 September.

Four quarterfinals on Sunday ended the individual draw. In women's singles, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, 31, lost to Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China 21-11, 18-21, 10-21. Unnati Hooda, 19, lost to three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, world No. 3, 16-21, 21-14, 17-21.

The Hindu said Sindhu was playing her third match in less than 24 hours, with a second match on Saturday that finished well past midnight. India Today put the gap before the quarterfinal at within 12 hours of that late match and timed the match at one hour and 15 minutes. Sindhu came in with a 7-9 head-to-head record against Chen. She had beaten Chen on the way to the Japan Open Super 750 title in July.

The Hindu said Sindhu led the first game 11-8 at the break and closed it 21-11. Chen took the second 21-18. The Hindu had that game at 12-12 and then 16-18, with rallies averaging about 43 shots. The Times of India had it level at 16-16 before the same 21-18. In the third, The Hindu said Chen led 4-0 and was four points ahead at the interval. The Times of India put the interval at 11-7 and said Sindhu scored three more points afterwards. Both said Chen won 10 of the next 11 points. The game was 10-21.

Sindhu said: "I think I should have finished it off in the second set itself, but I couldn't." She also spoke of long rallies.

Hooda's match lasted 66 minutes, India Today reported. The Hindu said Yamaguchi took eight straight points from 3-4 to lead 11-4 and won the first game 21-16. Hooda won the second 21-14. Yamaguchi led the third 11-8 at the break and won 21-17. India Today said the last 12 points came from unforced errors.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, World Championships bronze medallists last month, lost 18-21, 9-21 to Malaysia's world No. 5 pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. India Today said the Malaysians played to Gopichand's backhand and moved her deep, which brought Jolly forward. Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost 14-21, 21-18, 18-21 to world No. 1 Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dongping of China, in one hour and 16 minutes. Crasto said: "It's disappointing not to win a medal, but we are proud of the effort both of us have made. We fought till the last point."

The Hindu and The Times of India said Sindhu, Hooda and Ayush Shetty each played two matches within a few hours on Saturday. Prannoy told the Badminton Association of India he had not seen two singles matches in a day "in ages." He said badminton's last date was 29 September while the Games run to 4 October, and that the return to the hotel took two hours. India Today reported that players stayed in hotels around Aichi-Nagoya, and some in containers on a cruise ship at the port. It called this the first Asian Games without one athletes' village. Prannoy said it felt like the Japan Open.