Lakshya Sen Lost 11-21, Then Took India Past Japan in Aichi
Lakshya Sen had eleven points on the board when the first game ended, and India were about to play the hosts for a place in the Asian Games semi-finals. An hour later India had swept Japan 3-0 in Aichi, and with it the second team medal in a row. Nothing India have done in this badminton competition so far comes close to that hour.
Lakshya Sen beat world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka 11-21, 21-5, 21-19.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 21-18, 24-22.
Ayush Shetty beat Koki Watanabe 21-10, 21-19 to finish the sweep.
India are guaranteed at least bronze. The team event has no bronze play-off, so reaching the semi-final puts you on the podium.
India’s women lost their quarter-final 3-1 to Japan on the same day and are out of the team event.
Game one: Kodai Naraoka takes it by ten
Naraoka is ranked seventh in the world and plays the kind of badminton that makes you prove you want it: long rallies, high clears, almost no unforced errors. He won the opening game 21-11. There was no controversy in it, no run of luck to point at. Lakshya was second to the shuttle and the scoreboard said so.
Game two: 19-4
Then Lakshya took the second game 21-5, and at one point led it 19-4. Read those two scorelines next to each other. Same opponent, same court, minutes apart: 11-21, then 21-5. A ten-point deficit became a sixteen-point margin the other way, which is a twenty-six point swing between one game and the next against the world No. 7.
Game three: 8-14 down
The decider went back to Naraoka. He led it 14-8, six points clear with the match in his hands, and Japan a point away from being level in the tie. Lakshya got back to 19-19 and won it 21-19.
Game
Score
Margin
1
11-21
−10
2
21-5
+16
3
21-19
+2
Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka - game by game
Then the doubles did it again, in miniature
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the men’s doubles champions from Hangzhou, went out against a pair who have been world champions and won 21-18, 24-22. The second game reached 19-19, then 20-20, then went to 24-22. Three points across two games the other way and the tie is 1-1 with everything to play for.
Ayush Shetty closed it 21-10, 21-19. He is the player who knocked Shi Yuqi out of the World Championships in Delhi last month, in the round of 64, and he did not let the third match get complicated.
What India’s 3-0 win over Japan is worth
It came against the hosts, in their own hall, in a tie India had to win to stay in the medals. India were silver medallists in this event at Hangzhou in 2023, so this is back-to-back Asian Games team medals, and the colour was still open when this was written: the semi-final against China is being played now, and the final is on Thursday 24 September.
The five individual events follow from Friday 25 September to Tuesday 29 September: here is what India enters in each of them. This page will carry the semi-final result once it is official.
What was the score in Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka?
Lakshya Sen won 11-21, 21-5, 21-19 in the Asian Games men’s team quarter-final on 22 September 2026. He lost the first game by ten points, won the second by sixteen, and came from 8-14 down in the decider.
Did India beat Japan at the Asian Games 2026?
Yes, 3-0 in the men’s team quarter-final in Aichi. Lakshya Sen, then Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, then Ayush Shetty all won.
Has India won a badminton medal at the Asian Games 2026?
India’s men are guaranteed at least a bronze in the team event. There is no bronze play-off, so both losing semi-finalists take a medal.
How did India’s women’s team do?
They lost 3-1 to Japan in the quarter-final on 22 September and are out of the team event. Their players can still enter the individual events from 25 September.
What is left in the Asian Games badminton?
The team finals are on Thursday 24 September, and the five individual events run from Friday 25 September to Tuesday 29 September at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi.
Where can I watch in India?
The Asian Games are streaming on JioHotstar. Japan is three and a half hours ahead of India, so a 10:00 local start is 06:30 IST.
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.
