India secured a bronze medal in the men’s badminton team event at the Asian Games 2026 after going down 1-3 to the People’s Republic of China in the semi-finals in Aichi, Japan, on Wednesday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kept India’s challenge alive with the team’s only victory, defeating reigning world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 in the men’s doubles.
Earlier, Lakshya Sen was beaten 21-16, 21-18 by Shi Yuqi in the opening singles. Lakshya made a strong start, but Shi recovered to take control of the first game. The Indian pushed the Chinese shuttler to 16-16 in the second before Shi won the next points to close out the contest.
Satwik and Chirag then produced a composed display against the world No. 3 Chinese pair. After comfortably taking the opening game, the Indian duo were tested in the second as Liang and Wang saved two match points and levelled the score at 20-20. Satwik and Chirag held their nerve to convert their third match point and bring the tie level at 1-1.
China regained the advantage through Li Shi Feng, who defeated Ayush Shetty 21-19, 21-13 in the second men’s singles.
India needed victory in the fourth match to force a decider, but Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun could not overcome He Ji Ting and Liu Yi. The Chinese pair prevailed 21-16, 17-21, 21-9 to seal the tie and send China into the final.
India had entered the semi-finals after a 3-0 quarter-final victory over hosts Japan, with Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag and Ayush Shetty winning their respective matches.
The bronze marks India’s second successive medal in the men’s team event at the Asian Games. India had won silver at the Hangzhou 2023 Games, where they lost 2-3 to China in the final.
