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Indias teqball campaign at the 2026 Asian Games ended without a medal on Sunday after Quimcy Dsouza fell short in two bronze-medal contests, with the Indian athlete admitting that the pressure of competing on an unfamiliar continental stage impacted her.
Dsouza first suffered a narrow 2-0 (12-11, 12-11) defeat to Japans Yuina Sakamoto in the womens singles bronze-medal match. She returned later alongside Mohamed Anas Imran Beg for the mixed doubles bronze-medal playoff, but the Indian pair fell 0-2 (12-9, 12-6) to Vietnams Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen and Gia Nghi Trinh. To experience such pressure for the first time was where I fell back a little bit, Dsouza told Olympics.com. Were not used to the pressure because from nobody covering us to suddenly everyone talking about teqball was too much to take on our chest," she added. Dsouza said representing India was a lifelong dream, and she felt immense pride at finally wearing the national jersey. She added that she hopes to keep giving her best to continue representing the country. A lot of athletes in India dream about wearing India on their chest. The kid in me would be super proud today. Its always been a dream to wear India on my chest, and to be able to achieve that, I still cant sink in the feeling. I still cant believe Im wearing it. India looks good on me, and I hope that I continue to give it my all to ensure this remains on my chest forever, " she said. Teqball, a sport that blends elements of football and table tennis and is played on a curved table, made its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. India fielded three athletes in the competition, Quimcy Dsouza, Mohamed Anas Imran Beg and Declan Marshall Gonsalves. (ANI)
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