Asian Games 2026: India Beat Japan 3-0 to Storm Into Men’s Badminton Team Semifinals

Lakshya Sen's stirring comeback was the perfect subplot as the Indian men's badminton team produced a superlative performance to outwit hosts Japan in the quarterfinals and assure itself of a medal at the Asian Games at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gynasium in Nagoya on Tuesday.

The Indian men were the silver-medallists of the last edition.

Coming into the event after a series of early exits and low on confidence, Lakshya was staring at defeat after losing the opening game and trailing 14-19 in the decider.

However, the 25-year-old from Almora proved his mettle, reeling off seven straight points to beat world No.7 and two-time world championships silver-medallist Kodai Naraoka 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 to give India a 1-0 lead

Playing the first doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have won two titles this season, registered a 21-18, 24-22 win over former world champions Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo to extend India's lead to 2-0.

Ayush Shetty, a finalist at the Badminton Asia Championships this year, then produced an impressive performance to see off world no. 16 Koki Watanabe 21-10 21-19 to seal the match and a medal for India.

India will face the winner of the other quarterfinal between defending champions China and Korea in the last four stage on Wednesday.

Lakshya vs Naraoka

The build-up to the Games could not have been worse for world no. 14 Lakshya, as he made an early exit from the home World Championships after losing to USA's Garrett Tan, who was ranked world No. 92 at the time.

His mentor Vimal Kumar later revealed that he had been dealing with a back injury.

Playing a high-pressure match against an opponent who had defeated him in four of the last five meetings, Lakshya struggled initially, with the drift in the hall also playing a role.

Lakshya soon surrendered the opening game. However, after a pep talk from chief coach Pullela Gopichand and a change of sides, the Indian made an emphatic comeback, dominating the second game with a series of smashes aimed at his opponent's backhand to race to an 11-2 lead.

The Almora shuttler continued the momentum, moving to 16-3 as he mixed his shots well and Naraoka struggled to keep the shuttle inside. Lakshya sealed the game when the Japanese player's lift again went long.

In the decider, Lakshya initially managed to keep himself within touching distance, but Naraoka took an 11-6 lead at the break before the final change of ends.

The Japanese moved to 16-10 despite a fighting Lakshya, who kept engaging his rival in rallies and waiting for his chance.

However, two unforced errors from Lakshya saw the Japanese move to 19-14.

The Indian then made a strong comeback, reeling off four points as Naraoka crumbled under pressure and committed too many errors.

Lakshya unleashed two precise returns to the back-line to earn a match point and sealed the contest when Naraoka sprayed his next shot into the net.