Chen Yu Fei: India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu lost her women’s singles quarter-final match 21-11, 18-21, 10-21 to China’s Chen Yu Fei on Sunday as India’s badminton campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 came to an end on Sunday.
India’s badminton campaign at the continental event saw only a bronze coming off the men’s team event, as none of the singles, doubles, or mixed doubles players managed to secure a medal in their respective individual events.
Sindhu, who had a busy schedule a day earlier, having played two matches on Saturday, showed no signs of tiredness after the first game against her Chinese opponent, despite this being her third match in less than 24 hours.
Sindhu came firing against the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and won the opening game 21-11. The second game was a tightly contested affair, with the Indian heading to the break with a 11-10 advantage. The game was then levelled at 16-all before Sindhu unleashed a big smash and let out a roar on the next point, holding a slender 17-16 lead, before the Chinese bounced back and forced a decider by taking the second game 21-18.
Sindhu's dominance that she showed in Game 1 seemed to be fading off in the final game and the pressure of losing Game 2 looked to have had an effect on her as she gave away an 11-7 advantage to Chen at the break in the decider.
Sindhu couldn’t manage to get on thereafter, managing to get only three more points before Chen raced ahead to win the final game 21-10 and the match by a 2-1 margin.
Ealreir, Unnati lost to three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi 16-21, 21-14, 17-21.
Unnati fell behind by quite some margin early on in the game. But she recovered to pull close, although Yamaguchi still managed four game points to take the opening game 21-16.
The Indian showcased brilliant fightback as she clinched the second game 21-14. Though she was visibly drained and was clasping her knees on several occasions, but she came through to square the contest at 1-1. In the decider, Unnati managed to stay close till the very end, but she was tiring out, and the unforced errors got Yamaguchi the contest.
After a gruelling three games, Yamaguchi progressed to the semifinals and assured herself a bronze. The final game went 21-17 to the Japanese.
The Indian showcased brilliant fightback as she clinched the second game 21-14. Though she was visibly drained and was clasping her knees on several occasions, but she came through to square the contest at 1-1. In the decider, Unnati managed to stay close till the very end, but she was tiring out, and the unforced errors got Yamaguchi the contest.
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Later, India’s mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila fell 14-21, 21-18, 18-21 to the world No. 1 Chinese pair of Yan Zhe Feng and Dongping Huang in their quarterfinal match.