Asian Games: Sindhu, Ayush reach pre-quarters; Lakshya Sen exits

PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty entered the singles pre-quarterfinals at the Asian Games badminton event in Nagoya on Saturday, while Lakshya Sen exited in the second round. Sindhu beat Chinese Taipei's Chiu Pin-chian 21-19, 21-14 and meets Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki next. Ayush downed Kazakhstan's Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7. Unnati Hooda beat Malaysia's Ling Ching Wong 21-14, 20-22, 21-19 to reach round three. Sen lost 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew.

Written by AI from Badminton · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 26 Sept 2026, 6:24 pm IST

Source

Badminton · read the original report ↗

#badminton#asian games 2026#pv sindhu#lakshya sen#ayush shetty

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

PV Sindhu beat Chiu Pin-chian 21-19, 21-14 in the women's singles second round. — Score appears in source; attributed to PTI news service report.
Ayush Shetty beat Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7 and will meet third seed Chou Tien Chen. — Figures and draw detail appear in source as reported.
Lakshya Sen lost 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Loh Kean Yew in a match lasting over an hour. — Score and duration stated in source; no independent confirmation.
Unnati Hooda beat Ling Ching Wong 21-14, 20-22, 21-19 to reach the third round. — Figure appears in source; consistent within the report.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty exited men's doubles a day earlier. — Stated in source without further detail; described as a prior result.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Sports Analyst

India's badminton campaign in Nagoya is running on two tracks — Sindhu and Ayush Shetty advanced comfortably, while Lakshya Sen's exit weakens the men's singles hopes. Sindhu trailed from 6-2 to 11-10 in the opener yet dominated the second game, a sign that her ability to find rhythm mid-match remains intact. Ayush's 21-7, 21-7 rout was emphatic, but the real test is next: third seed Chou Tien Chen.

Sindhu's win followed the ranking script (No. 11 v No. 17), but coming months after her maiden Super 750 title in Japan, it suggests her form is holding.
Lakshya's defeat hinged on lapses in concentration — leading 5-1 in game one before conceding 10 straight points, and closing to 13-14 in the decider without converting.
With Loh Kean Yew ranked marginally higher (13th v Sen's 14th) this was no upset, but across a match of over an hour the former world champion's experience told in the decisive passages.
Coming a day after the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy–Chirag Shetty exit, the loss increases pressure on India's depth in the individual events.
Unnati Hooda's 21-19 third-game win showed useful mental resilience for a young player, though sixth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani is a step up.

What to watch — Sindhu v Tomoka Miyazaki and Ayush v Chou Tien Chen will effectively decide how far India's individual medal hopes travel.

The story establishes no information on injuries, fitness or conditions, offers no explanation for Lakshya's defeat, and nothing here is a firm forecast of medals.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 7 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

India's badminton campaign at the Asian Games in Nagoya saw mixed results in the singles events on Saturday. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and young shuttler Ayush Shetty won in straight games to reach the singles pre-quarterfinals, and Unnati Hooda came through a three-game battle to reach the women's singles third round. But Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallist and Paris Olympics fourth-place finisher, lost his second-round match to Singapore's former world champion Loh Kean Yew, a day after the shock men's doubles exit of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.

Key facts

PV Sindhu, world No. 11, beat Chinese Taipei's world No. 17 Chiu Pin-chian 21-19, 21-14 in the women's singles second round; she had a first-round bye.
Sindhu's next opponent is Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki.
Ayush Shetty, a Badminton Asia Championships finalist, beat Kazakhstan's Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7 and next meets third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Unnati Hooda, winner of three BWF Super 100 titles, beat Malaysia's Ling Ching Wong 21-14, 20-22, 21-19 to reach round three, where she faces Indonesia's sixth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani.
World No. 14 Lakshya Sen lost 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew (world No. 13, 2021 world champion) in a match lasting over an hour.
Sen led 5-1 in the opening game before Loh reeled off 10 straight points; Loh led 11-6 in the decider and closed it out from 19-14.
Sindhu won her maiden Super 750 title in Japan a few months before the Games.
Sen won a bronze in the team event on Wednesday and has a team silver from the previous edition at Hangzhou.

Timeline

2022Lakshya Sen wins Commonwealth Games gold in men's singles.
Last edition (Hangzhou)Sen is part of the Indian side that wins team silver at the Asian Games.
Paris OlympicsSen finishes fourth in men's singles.
A few months before NagoyaPV Sindhu wins her maiden Super 750 title in Japan.
WednesdaySen wins a bronze medal in the team event at the Nagoya Asian Games.
Friday (day before)Former world No. 1 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crash out of men's doubles.
SaturdaySindhu and Ayush Shetty reach the singles pre-quarterfinals, Unnati Hooda reaches round three, and Sen exits in the second round.

Who has a stake

PV Sindhu — Two-time Olympic medallist and world No. 11 chasing deep progress in Nagoya after her maiden Super 750 title in Japan.
Lakshya Sen — An individual Asian Games medal continues to elude him despite CWG 2022 gold and a fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics.
Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda — Young shuttlers representing India's next generation; both advanced but face seeded opponents next.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty — Former world No. 1 men's doubles pair whose early exit weakened India's medal prospects.
Indian badminton establishment — Overall Asian Games campaign hinges on remaining singles hopes after doubles and Sen's setbacks.
Rival nations and players — Chinese Taipei, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan shuttlers competing directly against Indians for draw progression.

Why it matters

The Asian Games is the toughest badminton field outside the World Championships and Olympics, since most of the world's top players come from Asia, so results here indicate India's true competitive standing. Sindhu's continued progress and the advance of younger players like Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda offer continuity, even as Sen's exit and the doubles setback show how thin India's medal margins remain.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Asian Games badminton events in this edition were held at Nagoya (Japan).
PV Sindhu is a two-time Olympic medallist and was world No. 11 at the time of the Nagoya Games.
Loh Kean Yew of Singapore was the 2021 world champion and was ranked 13th.
Lakshya Sen won Commonwealth Games gold in 2022 and finished fourth at the Paris Olympics.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are a former world No. 1 men's doubles pair.
Unnati Hooda has won three BWF Super 100 titles; Ayush Shetty was a Badminton Asia Championships finalist.

Mains framing

India's badminton results at the Nagoya Asian Games illustrate both the depth and the fragility of the country's shuttle ecosystem. On the positive side, the pipeline is visible: alongside PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist now ranked world No. 11 and fresh from her maiden Super 750 title in Japan, younger players such as Ayush Shetty (a Badminton Asia Championships finalist) and Unnati Hooda (three BWF Super 100 titles) are winning matches on the biggest continental stage. On the other side, the campaign has been dented by the second-round exit of world No. 14 Lakshya Sen to Loh Kean Yew and, a day earlier, the shock loss of the former world No. 1 doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Sen's case underlines the gap between potential and podiums: despite CWG 2022 gold, a fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics and team medals (silver at Hangzhou, bronze at Nagoya), an individual Asian Games medal still eludes him. The match pattern - a 5-1 lead surrendered to a 10-point run, then a decider lost from 13-14 - points to issues of consistency, closing ability and physical endurance in hour-long contests against Asian elites. The way forward lies in broadening the singles and doubles bench, converting team-event success into individual results, and sharper match-management and sports-science support.

Key terms

Pre-quarterfinals: The round of 16 stage, reached by winning the earlier rounds of the singles draw.
BWF Super 750 / Super 100: Tiers of the Badminton World Federation's world tour, with Super 750 far higher-ranked and richer than Super 100 events.
Bye: Automatic advance past a round without playing, usually given to higher-ranked or seeded players; Sindhu got one in round one.
Badminton Asia Championships: The continental championship for badminton in Asia; Ayush Shetty was a finalist there.
Seed: A ranking-based draw position; Chou Tien Chen was third seed and Putri Kusuma Wardani sixth seed.
Asian Games team event: The country-versus-country badminton competition; India won bronze at Nagoya and silver at Hangzhou.

Practice questions

Despite strong performances in team events and global tournaments, Indian shuttlers often fall short of individual Asian Games medals. Examine the reasons and suggest measures.
Discuss the role of youth pipelines in Indian badminton, with reference to the performances of Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda at the Nagoya Asian Games.
How does success in high-tier BWF World Tour events translate, or fail to translate, into multi-sport Games medals for Indian athletes?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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