Asian Games 2026 Badminton: India Picked This Squad in May
India’s twenty-member squad, and the date it was settled.
India’s badminton squad for the Asian Games 2026 was finalised on world rankings dated 26 May — twelve weeks before the World Championships in Delhi rearranged which of those players was actually in form.
The Asian Games 2026 badminton competition runs from 20 to 29 September at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, north-west of Nagoya. Team events go first, then the five individual disciplines. The Games themselves run 19 September to 4 October.
Asian Games 2026 badminton schedule
Dates
Phase
What is decided
Sun 20 – Thu 24 Sep
Team events
Men’s and women’s team titles
Fri 25 – Tue 29 Sep
Individual events
All five disciplines
Japan runs three and a half hours ahead of India. A session starting at 10:00 local time begins at 06:30 IST; an evening session at 18:00 local begins at 14:30 IST. Session-by-session start times have not been published yet — this page will carry them in IST as soon as they are.
The Asian Games are streaming on JioHotstar in India. Badminton session times have not been published yet; this page will carry them in IST as soon as they are.
What Delhi changed
Ayush Shetty beat Shi Yuqi — the world number one and defending champion — in the first round of the World Championships, at home, on debut. He is on this squad list without a discipline beside his name. Lakshya Sen, India’s highest-ranked man, went out in the round of 32 to an eighteen-year-old ranked 92nd. PV Sindhu did not reach the second week.
India’s only medal in Delhi came from Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who are unseeded, and who beat the sixteenth, seventh and fourth seeds to get it. None of this changes the squad — that was settled in May. It changes who you watch.
Why this is harder than the World Championships
A World Championships draw has soft early rounds. Sixty-four players come from more than forty nations, and a top seed’s first opponent is usually ranked outside the top sixty. An Asian Games draw has no such padding. The same countries that filled the Delhi quarter-finals are all here, in a far smaller field, and there is nobody safe to draw in round one.
One absence shapes the men’s event more than any presence. Alex Lanier, who won the world title in Delhi on 23 August, is French, and cannot enter. Kodai Naraoka — the man he beat 21-11, 21-11 in that final — is Japanese, and plays this one at home.
India’s Asian Games badminton record
Games
India’s badminton medals
Hangzhou 2023
Gold — Satwik / Chirag, men’s doubles, beating Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho 21-18, 21-16. India’s first badminton gold at an Asian Games. Silver — men’s team. Bronze — HS Prannoy, men’s singles.
Jakarta 2018
Silver — PV Sindhu, women’s singles, losing to Tai Tzu-ying. India’s first badminton silver at these Games. Bronze — Saina Nehwal, women’s singles.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty travel to Japan as defending champions — the only Asian Games badminton title India has ever had to defend. Satwik also holds the fastest recorded smash in the sport.
When is badminton at the Asian Games 2026?
20 to 29 September 2026, at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Team events run 20–24 September and individual events 25–29 September.
Where can I watch Asian Games 2026 badminton in India?
On JioHotstar. Japan runs three and a half hours ahead of India, so a morning session there starts before 07:00 IST and an evening session at 18:00 local begins at 14:30 IST.
Who is in India’s badminton squad for the Asian Games 2026?
A twenty-member squad led by PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the defending men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The full list by discipline is in the table above.
Is Alex Lanier playing at the Asian Games?
No. Lanier won the 2026 world title in Delhi but is French, and the Asian Games is open only to Asian nations.
Kreeda is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Badminton World Federation, the Olympic Council of Asia or the Badminton Association of India. Squad as announced by BAI on rankings dated 26 May 2026 and subject to revision.
