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The Indian mens badminton team secured a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2026 after suffering a 3-1 defeat against the Peoples Republic of China in the semi-finals in Aichi, Japan, on Wednesday.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered Indias only win of the tie, defeating reigning world champions Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 in the mens doubles match. Lakshya Sen lost the opening match 21-16, 21-18 against Shi Yuqi. Lakshya started strongly, but Shi fought back to take the first game. The Indian shuttler also challenged in the second game, drawing level at 16-16 before the Chinese player closed out the match, according to Olympics.com. Satwik and Chirag, the reigning Asian Games mens doubles champions, then produced a strong performance against the world No. 3 Chinese pair. The Indian duo dominated the opening game and held their composure in the second after the Chinese pair saved two match points to make it 20-20. Satwik-Chirag converted their third match point to level the tie at 1-1. Ayush Shetty then went down 21-19, 21-13 against world No. 12 Li Shi Feng, giving China a 2-1 lead. With India needing a win in the fourth match, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun faced He Ji Ting and Liu Yi. However, the Indian pair lost 21-16, 17-21, 21-9, ending Indias hopes of reaching a second successive mens team final. India had assured a medal after defeating hosts Japan 3-0 in the quarter-finals, with Lakshya Sen, Satwik-Chirag and Ayush Shetty winning their respective matches. India, which won a silver medal at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, finished on the podium for the second consecutive edition but missed out on a place in the final. At the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, India won the silver medal after losing 3-2 to China in the gold medal clash. (ANI)
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