Asian Games: India sweep Japan 3-0, book men’s badminton team SF spot
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Ichinomiya City: India secured a medal in the men’s team badminton event at the 2026 Asian Games after sweeping Japan 3-0 in the quarterfinals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Tuesday, booking a place in the semifinals.
Lakshya Sen overcame a stern challenge from Kodai Naraoka in the opening singles before the doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty put India within touching distance of the last four. Ayush Shetty then completed the victory with a straight-game win over Koki Watanabe.
Lakshya was forced to dig deep after dropping the opening game 11-21. The Indian responded emphatically, racing through the second game 21-5 to force a decider.
Naraoka appeared to regain control in the third game and opened up a five-point lead, but Lakshya produced a remarkable fightback. He levelled the score at 19-19 before winning the next two points to seal an 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 victory.
The pressure then shifted to the doubles court, where world No. 5 Satwiksairaj and Chirag took on Japan’s world No. 9 pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, the former world champions.
The Indian duo edged a closely contested opening game 21-18. The second went down to the wire after Japan saved three match points and levelled the score at 20-20. Satwik and Chirag held their nerve to eventually win 24-22 and give India a 2-0 lead.
Ayush was then tasked with closing out the tie, and the young Indian delivered in style against Watanabe.
He controlled the opening game from the start to win it 21-10. Watanabe attempted to fight back in the second, but Ayush maintained his composure and reached the interval with an 11-5 lead. He eventually closed out the match 21-10, 21-19, sending India into the semifinals and assuring the team at least a bronze medal.
India had begun its campaign with a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh in the round of 16.
The men’s team will now await the winner of the quarterfinal between China and South Korea for their semifinal on Wednesday.
The result also keeps India in contention to improve on their performance at the previous edition, where the men’s team won a silver medal after losing the final to China.
With IANS inputs