India’s 12-Year Wait Continues as Women’s Badminton Team Crashes Out Against Japan

India’s women’s badminton team bowed out of the Asian Games 2026 after suffering a 1-3 defeat against defending champions Japan in the quarter-finals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Tuesday, September 22.

The result extended India’s wait for an Asian Games medal in women’s badminton to 16 years. India’s last medal came at the 2014 edition in Indonesia, where the team secured a bronze, sharing the honour with Japan.

India faced a daunting challenge against a strong Japanese line-up featuring several top-10 ranked players. With most of the Indian shuttlers up against higher-ranked opponents, PV Sindhu’s opening singles clash against World No.3 Akane Yamaguchi was seen as a crucial contest.

Sindhu Pushes Yamaguchi but Falls Short

Sindhu started strongly against Yamaguchi, repeatedly testing the Japanese star’s defence with aggressive rallies. Yamaguchi moved 17-13 ahead in the opening game, but Sindhu fought back brilliantly to take it 23-21 after 26 minutes.

The Indian veteran adopted an attacking approach in the second game, looking to finish the contest quickly. However, the strategy resulted in several unforced errors, allowing Yamaguchi to level the match by winning the game 21-18.

Yamaguchi then took control of the decider. Sindhu fell 6-14 behind as fatigue began to affect her movement and shot-making. The Japanese shuttler closed out the match 21-11 to give Japan the first point of the tie.

Japan Moves 2-0 Ahead

India’s problems deepened when Unnati Hooda faced World No.7 Tomoka Miyazaki in the second singles match.

Unnati showed promise early on but struggled to contain Miyazaki’s deceptive play and net control. After losing the first game 16-21, she built a 11-4 lead in the second but was unable to maintain the advantage. Miyazaki staged a comeback to win the game and complete a straight-games victory.

With Japan leading 2-0, India needed to win the remaining matches to stay alive.

Treesa-Gayatri Keep India Alive

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced India’s best performance of the tie. The World Championships bronze medallists defeated Japan’s World No.3 pair of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in straight games.

Treesa and Gayatri controlled the contest and secured a 21-17, 21-16 victory in under an hour, briefly keeping India’s hopes alive.

However, Japan sealed the quarter-final tie in the next singles match. Tanvi Sharma struggled against former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, losing 12-21, 10-21.

Japan thus secured a 3-1 victory and advanced to the semi-finals, where they will face South Korea. South Korea booked its place in the last four after defeating Malaysia 3-1 in the quarter-finals.