Asian Games 2026: Defending champions Satwik-Chirag knocked out in first round

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Defending men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty experienced a shock opening-round elimination at the Asian Games badminton competition.

The former world No. 1 duo and two-time world championship bronze medalists won the first game but ultimately lost against Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun, 12-21, 21-19, 21-14 during an intense one-hour and eight-minute match. The unseeded Thai pairing bounced back to win the second game 21-19 and sealed the upset by taking the decider 21-14.

Meanwhile, the mixed doubles tandem of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila enjoyed a much better outing, stringing together successive victories to book a spot in the quarterfinals. They opened their campaign by sweeping Maldives’ Nibal Ahmed and Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq 21-8, 21-7 in just 21 minutes.

Tanisha and Dhruv then backed up that performance with a gruelling, one-hour battle against Malaysia’s Shevon Jemie Lai and Soon Huat Goh, prevailing 22-20, 24-22. They will next face China’s Yan Zhe Feng and Dongping Huang in the quarterfinal round.

Earlier in the day, young singles player Unnati Hooda moved smoothly into the second round after defeating North Korea’s Mi Song Yu 21-9, 21-10 in a match that lasted 30 minutes.

Earlier, in the badminton team events, the women’s squad captained by P V Sindhu fell short of a podium finish, whereas the men’s team claimed a bronze medal after failing to replicate their silver-winning run from the previous edition.

Later in the day, the men’s doubles partnership of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M R Arjun took the court to face Indonesia’s world No. 2 pair, Fajar Alfian and Shohibul Fikri.

Anahat and Abhay reach squash semi-final

Indian squash players Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh powered their way into the women’s and men’s singles semi-finals, respectively, at the Asian Games 2026 after claiming straight-game triumphs in their quarterfinal matches on Friday.

In the men’s draw, Abhay Singh secured his semi-final spot with a dominant 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-6) victory over Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue lasting 30 minutes. Abhay kept his opponent under constant pressure to advance cleanly. He will face Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan in the semi-final after defeating India’s Veer Chotrani in the other quarter-final.

(With inputs from ANI)

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