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Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the men's singles event after registering a comfortable straight-game victory over Kazakhstan's Makhsut Tajibullayev at the Asian Games 2026 on Saturday.
Ayush produced a dominant performance to defeat Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7 in just 18 minutes in the second-round clash. The Indian maintained control throughout the match, putting pressure on his opponent with aggressive play and quick movement to secure a one-sided win. Ayush will now face a tougher challenge in the pre-quarterfinals, where he is set to take on Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, the current BWF World Tour No. 1. The Indian shuttler will look to carry forward his strong momentum as he aims to progress further in the men's singles competition at the Asian Games. Meanwhile, India opened the day with a medal-winning performance in athletics as Sawan Barwal clinched silver in the men's marathon with a national record time of 2:11:37. In shooting, Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen and Vidarsa Vinod secured team silver in the women's 50m rifle 3P event, while Tilottama and Vidarsa advanced to the individual final. Tilottama later finished fourth and Vidarsa fifth in the individual final after a close medal battle. In squash, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar won a bronze medal in mixed doubles after losing their semifinal against Hong Kongs Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi. Badminton saw Unnati Hooda progress to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals after defeating Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching, while Lakshya Sen exited after a second-round defeat to Singapores Loh Kean Yew. In boxing, Jadumani Singh bowed out after losing to the Philippines Carlo Paalam in the men's 55kg round of 16 bout. Indian archers produced strong performances in qualification rounds. Chikitha Taniparthi, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Prithika Pradeep finished second in the women's team compound qualification, while Dhiraj Bommadevara, Neeraj Chauhan and Yashdeep Bhoge secured third place in the men's team recurve qualification, with Dhiraj setting Asian and national records. In athletics, Tejaswin Shankar and Thowfeeq Noushad continued their decathlon campaign, with Tejaswin winning the long jump event and remaining in medal contention. Animesh Kujur qualified for the men's 200m semifinal after topping his heat. India progressed in fencing with wins in the women's foil and men's sabre team round of 16 before suffering quarterfinal defeats against Japan and South Korea. In canoe sprint, Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar reached Final A in mixed kayak double 500m, while Harshwardhan Shaktawat advanced to Final B. Table tennis players Yashaswini Ghorpade and Manush Shah exited in the singles rounds, while esports player Paritosh lost in the Puyo Puyo Champions quarterfinal. Indias mixed canoe double team of Raju Rawat and Neha Devi Leichonbam finished eighth in the final. (ANI)
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