Asian Games 2026: PV Sindhu storms into badminton quarterfinals; Ayush Shetty bows out
Aichi-Nagoya, September 26
India's PV Sindhu advanced to the women's singles quarterfinals at the Asian Games 2026 after defeating Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki in straight games at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Saturday.
Sindhu registered a comfortable 21-9, 21-13 victory over Miyazaki in 41 minutes to book her place in the last eight.
The Indian shuttler dominated the opening game, wrapping it up 21-9 in 18 minutes, before maintaining her composure in the second to complete another convincing win.
Sindhu controlled the proceedings throughout and did not allow Miyazaki to build sustained momentum, sealing her passage into the quarterfinals with a straight-games triumph.
Meanwhile, India's Ayush Shetty bowed out of the men's singles competition after suffering a hard-fought defeat to Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien-Chen in the quarterfinals.
Shetty lost the opening game 16-21 but fought back strongly to take the second 21-19 and level the contest. However, Chou held his nerve in the deciding game to prevail 21-17 and seal a 2-1 victory.
The defeat brought Shetty's Asian Games campaign to an end, while Sindhu will now turn her attention to the women's singles quarterfinals.
Earlier, India completed a golden sweep in kabaddi at the Asian Games 2026, with both the women's and men's teams defeating Iran in closely fought finals at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium on Saturday.
While the women's team edged past Iran 37-34 to successfully defend their title, the men's side produced a second-half comeback to prevail 40-34 and clinch a record ninth Asian Games gold in the discipline.
— ANI
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