Nagoya: India’s hopes for an individual medal in badminton at the 2026 Asian Games came to an end on Sunday as PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda were eliminated in the women’s singles quarter-finals.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu established an early lead against China’s Chen Yu Fei but was unable to maintain her form, eventually succumbing 21-11, 18-21, 10-21, according to ESPN.

Sindhu secured the opening game with ease, but Chen rallied to level the match before taking command of the deciding game. The loss concluded India's badminton campaign at the Games, leaving the men's team bronze as the nation's sole medal in the sport.

Earlier in the session, 18-year-old Unnati also narrowly missed out on guaranteeing a medal, losing to Japan’s former world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi 16-21, 21-14, 17-21 in a tightly contested quarter-final.

Unnati fought back after dropping the first game to push the match into a decider, though she was unable to take full advantage when Yamaguchi experienced an apparent leg issue.

The Indian player maintained a close margin during the final stages, but a series of errors allowed Yamaguchi to hold her lead. Holding narrow edges at 16-14 and 18-16, the Japanese player preserved her advantage to wrap up the victory.

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In other disciplines, boxer Ankush overcame Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov in the men’s 80kg quarter-final to guarantee India a podium finish.

India’s archers continued their strong performances, as both the men’s and women’s recurve teams defeated the Philippines and Mongolia respectively to reach the semi-finals. India also secured semi-final spots in the recurve mixed team as well as the men’s and women’s compound team events.

On the track and field, Sreeshankar Murali and David Solomon secured qualification for the men’s long jump final. Vithya Ramraj and Anu Raghavan also progressed to the women’s 400m hurdles final after placing second in their respective heat races.

Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan had previously earned a spot in the men’s 400m hurdles final, while Tejaswin Shankar held third place in the overall decathlon standings following the discus throw.

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In the shooting competition, Neeru led the women’s trap qualification standings at the end of Day 1, with Aashima Ahlawat in 16th and Manisha Keer in 24th. In the men’s trap qualification, Kynan Chenai held 11th position, followed by Shapath Bharadwaj in 22nd and Ahvar Rizvi in 35th.

India’s women’s fencing team fell to Uzbekistan in the team sabre quarter-finals, while Hriday Chheda and Jai Sud recorded eighth- and ninth-place finishes respectively in the individual dressage final.

In surfing, Sivaraj Babu progressed to Round 3 of the men’s shortboard event, whereas Kamali Prakash failed to advance in the women’s competition.

India also registered losses in Kurash and the women’s doubles sepak takraw events on Day 8.

ANI