India’s PV Sindhu suffered a three-game defeat against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi as the Indian women’s badminton team went 0-1 down in their Asian Games 2026 quarterfinal tie against the hosts on Tuesday.
Sindhu started strongly and edged out Yamaguchi 23-21 in a closely contested opening game. However, the Japanese shuttler fought back in the second game, winning 21-18 to level the match and force a decider.
India’s PV Sindhu loses 23-21, 18-21 11-21 to Akane Yamaguchi as the Indian women’s team falls 0-1 behind against Japan in the badminton quarterfinals at the Asian Games. #AsianGames2026 #PVSindhu pic.twitter.com/OD7Fj41lER
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 22, 2026
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Yamaguchi carried her momentum into the third game and pulled away from Sindhu to seal an 11-21, 18-21, 11-21 victory. The defeat handed Japan the opening point of the quarterfinal tie, leaving India needing to win the remaining matches to keep their campaign alive.
Sindhu had entered the quarterfinal after helping India secure a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan in the Round of 16. She had defeated Kamila Smagulova 21-7, 21-9 in the opening singles match before Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma completed the clean sweep.
With Japan now leading 1-0, India will look to bounce back in the remaining matches of the quarterfinal tie and keep their hopes of progressing to the medal rounds alive.