Asian Games 2026: India Take Badminton Bronze, China Take the Tie
India had the medal before the first serve. What China decided, in a little over an hour on Wednesday in Aichi, was the colour of it. India’s men lost the Asian Games badminton team semi-final 3-1 and took bronze, their second team medal in a row. The one point they won was the best badminton anyone from India played all week.
Semi-final: China 3, India 1, at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on 23 September.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat the reigning world champions, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, 21-11, 22-20.
Lakshya Sen lost to Shi Yuqi, the 2025 world champion, 16-21, 18-21.
Ayush Shetty lost to world No. 12 Li Shifeng 19-21, 13-21, and the second doubles went to China in three games.
Bronze is India’s second successive Asian Games team medal, after silver at Hangzhou in 2023. India’s overall medal count reached twelve that day.
The title went to Indonesia, who beat China 3-2 in Thursday’s final. China won the women’s team gold.
The tie, in four matches
Match
India
China
India’s result
Singles 1
Lakshya Sen
Shi Yuqi
Lost 16-21, 18-21
Doubles 1
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty
Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang
Won 21-11, 22-20
Singles 2
Ayush Shetty
Li Shifeng
Lost 19-21, 13-21
Doubles 2
MR Arjun / Hariharan Amsakarunan
China’s second pair
Lost in three games
China 3-1 India - men’s team semi-final, 23 September
India’s only point came against the world champions
Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang are the reigning world champions in men’s doubles. Satwik and Chirag took the first game off them 21-11. Not 21-19, not in a scramble at the end: by ten points, against the best pair in the world on paper, with India already a match down and needing the point to stay in the tie.
The second game was the opposite kind of test. It went to 20-20, which is where world champions usually collect what they are owed, and Satwik and Chirag won it 22-20. That is a pair who won the China Masters three weeks ago playing like it, and it is worth remembering while the rest of this report is about losses.
Where the tie actually went
Lakshya Sen opened against Shi Yuqi and lost in two. Three days earlier Lakshya had come from 11-21 down, and from 8-14 in a decider, to beat Kodai Naraoka and win the quarter-final against Japan. Against the world champion he never got that far: 16-21, 18-21, and no third game to come back in.
Then Ayush Shetty, who beat Shi Yuqi in the round of 64 at the World Championships in Delhi last month, lost 19-21, 13-21 to Li Shifeng. He had the first game within two points and the second got away from him. The second doubles went to China in three, and the tie was over.
Why the medal was safe before Wednesday
The team event has no bronze play-off: both beaten semi-finalists take a medal. India’s bronze was therefore won on Monday, in the 3-0 sweep of hosts Japan, and Wednesday only settled whether it would be silver or bronze. India were silver medallists at Hangzhou in 2023, so this is back-to-back Asian Games team medals for the men. The women went out to Japan in the quarter-finals.
Indonesia end China’s run in the final
China, who had beaten India, did not win the title. Indonesia beat them 3-2 in Thursday’s final, decided in the fifth match by Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah, who won 23-21, 21-13 against Weng Hongyang. It ends China’s two-Games hold on the men’s team title. China did take the women’s team gold, so the two titles split.
What India has left in Aichi
The five individual events run to the finals on 29 September, and India enters all of them. Satwik and Chirag are seeded fourth and defending the gold they won in Hangzhou. Lakshya Sen had a bye into a meeting with former world champion Loh Kean Yew, with world No. 1 Jonatan Christie possible in the quarter-final. PV Sindhu also had a bye, and her path runs through Japan’s seventh seed and then, potentially, Tokyo champion Chen Yufei.
Did India win a badminton medal at the Asian Games 2026?
Yes. India’s men won bronze in the team event. They lost the semi-final 3-1 to China on 23 September, and the team event has no bronze play-off, so both beaten semi-finalists take a medal.
What was the score in India vs China?
China won 3-1. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won India’s only match, beating Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20. Lakshya Sen lost 16-21, 18-21 to Shi Yuqi, Ayush Shetty lost 19-21, 13-21 to Li Shifeng, and the second doubles went to China in three games.
Who won the men’s team badminton gold at the Asian Games 2026?
Indonesia, who beat China 3-2 in the final on 24 September. Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah won the deciding match 23-21, 21-13 against Weng Hongyang. China won the women’s team gold.
Why is there no bronze medal match?
Badminton team events at the Asian Games award a bronze to each losing semi-finalist, so there is no third-place play-off to play.
Is this India’s first Asian Games team medal?
No. India’s men won silver at Hangzhou in 2023, so this bronze makes it two team medals in a row.
When are the Asian Games 2026 badminton individual finals?
The five individual events finish on 29 September at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi. Satwik and Chirag are defending their men’s doubles gold.
Kreeda is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Badminton World Federation, the Olympic Council of Asia or the Badminton Association of India. Scores and results are as publicly reported at the time of writing.
