India Sweeps Men's Badminton Team Event at Asian Games 2026

Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective singles matches as India defeated Bangladesh 3-0 in the men’s badminton team event at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday. Lakshya gave India the lead with a 21-4, 21-12 win over Ayman Ibn Jaman in the opening match. Ayush then extended India’s advantage by beating Gourab Singha 21-4, 21-13. With India needing one more victory to seal the tie, experienced campaigner Srikanth defeated Al Amin Jumar 21-15, 21-9 to complete the 3-0 win. The result meant the remaining doubles matches were not required. India advanced to the quarterfinals, where they are likely to face Japan. India enjoyed a productive day across disciplines at the Asian Games, winning medals in shooting and mixed martial arts and recording victories in hockey, kabaddi, boxing, badminton and table tennis. In shooting, Himanshu Dhillon won silver and Rudrankksh Patil took bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle individual final. The duo, along with Parth Mane, had earlier won silver in the team event. In the individual qualification, Rudrankksh finished third, Himanshu seventh and Parth 11th. In mixed martial arts, Suchika Tariyal won bronze in the women’s traditional 60kg category after losing to Singapore’s Teo Hui Hoon in the semifinal. India’s women’s hockey team defeated Indonesia 17-1 in their Pool B match, while the men’s kabaddi team recorded a 49-23 win over Japan in their Group A encounter. In boxing, Sumit defeated Bunjong Sinsiri in the men’s 70kg Round of 32 to advance. India’s women’s table tennis team also defeated Pakistan 3-0 in their Group F match. In swimming, Srihari Nataraj qualified for the men’s 50m backstroke final, with Rishabh Das named as a reserve. Mani Akash and Gitesh Shah failed to qualify for the men’s 50m freestyle final, while Dhanush Suresh missed out on the men’s 100m breaststroke final. In soft tennis, Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena defeated Cambodia’s Viva Chao-Chanroseka Khun 5-0 and also registered a win over Mongolia’s Bud Nyamdorj-Enkhkhuslen Ganbaatar in mixed doubles. They subsequently lost to South Korea’s Kim Yeon-hwa and Jaekyu Park before being eliminated in the round of 16 by the Philippines’ Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Nuguit. In wushu, Nyeman Wangsu finished 15th in the women’s Changquan final, while India’s men’s team lost to Japan in the sepaktakraw team regu Group B match. In women’s skeet qualification, Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan finished ninth, 14th and 16th, respectively, after the first day. In the men’s skeet qualification, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill were placed 21st, 26th and 27th, respectively. (ANI Inputs)