India ended its men's badminton team campaign at the Asian Games 2026 with a bronze medal after losing 1-3 to China in the semifinals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Wednesday.
The medal is only India's second in badminton at the Asian Games. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the men's doubles gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
At the Aichi-Nagoya Games in Japan, the Indian men's team had secured its first-ever men's team medal at the Asian Games after defeating Japan in the quarterfinals. However, India could not get past China in the last-four clash.
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Lakshya Sen faced former world champion Shi Yuqi in the opening tie. After a long and tiring contest, Sen went down 16-21, 18-21 as China took an early lead.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then brought India back into the contest with a straight-games victory over familiar opponents Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang. The Indian pair won 21-11, 22-20 to level the semifinal at 1-1.
Youngster Ayush Shetty was next up against Li Shifeng, the defending men's singles champion at the Asian Games. Li restored China's lead with a 21-19, 21-13 victory over Shetty.
India's fate was sealed in the second doubles tie. M. R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan lost 16-21, 21-17, 9-21 to He Ji Ting and Liu Yi, giving China a 3-1 victory.
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The result ended India's men's team campaign with a bronze medal.
On Tuesday, the Indian women's team lost 1-3 to Japan in the quarterfinals, ending their medal hopes in the competition.
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