Asian Games 2026 Day 4 Highlights: Women’s cricket team wins India’s first gold; team badminton medal assured

Jadumani has taken a couple of punches on his face in the second round. There were more than a couple of times that Jadumani was pinned on the ropes with the Nepalese boxer throwing the kitchen sink at him. There was a times when the Nepalese boxer charged at the Indian and he just shoved him to the canvas!

But despite throwing lesser punches, Jadumani is given the second round by four of the five judges as well.

The Indian women's cricket team reasserted its continental dominance by clinching a second successive gold medal at the Asian Games, thrashing familiar foes Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final here on Tuesday.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side's gold was India's first of the ongoing edition and was shaped by a brilliant batting performance that left Sri Lanka chasing a record target of 217.

Smriti Mandhana was regal as ever in her 79 off 45 before Richa Ghosh (48 off 22) came up with a brutal assault in the death overs to fire India to 216 for three, the highest total in Asian Games history.

Once India scaled that record total, the result was a foregone conclusion.

All Sri Lankan hopes were pinned on skipper Chamari Athapaththu (29 off 21) but she alone could not take the fight to the Indians. Sri Lanka capitulated to 69 all out in 15.4 overs as Indian spinners ran through the opposition.

Shafali Verma (48 and 2/3) produced an all-round performance while Deepti Sharma (3/6) and Shree Charani (2) chipped in with wickets as usual in a final devoid of a contest.

India were overwhelming favourites for the title and they certainly lived up to expectations with three dominant wins over the course of the competition.

(Via Press Trust of India)

Thanks to the gold medal from the Indian women's cricket team, India has barged into the top 10 ranks in the medals tally! They are now in 8th spot in the medals tally.

The Indian women's cricket team has ended the Indian contingent's long wait for its first gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with a victory over Sri Lanka in the final!

A victory by a whopping 147-run margin for the team!

India have their seventh medal at the ongoing Asian Games. This one's gold!

Men’s team QF MS1 | Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka (ranked World No 7)

11-21, 21-5, 21-19

Stunning Sen puts India 1-0 up.

Sen steps it up to reduce a 10-16, 14-19 deficit and go up to 18-19. A line shuttle plop in back corner takes him to 19-19.

That was cannot defense and one of those phases where Sen pulls out ridiculous reflex returns and followed by definitive smash attacks. He imposed his unfazed personality - call it attitude - on the game and pulled out a sensational first point for India.

The first point was important. India can ride the momentum now. Satwik-Chirag, Ayush to follow.

Sen had beaten China's Shi Yuqi in the Team final at Hangzhou that was lost 2-3. He steps up again. The Thomas Cup team gets going again.

(From Shivani Naik)

Men’s team QF MS1 | Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka (ranked World No 7)

11-21, 21-5, 6-12

Kodai leads 11-6 in third. Expected damage of the drift.

The next 15 points will be most important for Sen. He needs good tactics now. And some elevation to strokes. Too flat and Kodai likes that.

Men's team QF MS1 | Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka (ranked World No 5)

A game of three ...tri-tters to make up a word. Is there a word for 1/3?

Fractions.

But the first singles is quickly into the decider. That vroomed into the third. Drift must be deadly. That means he needs to limit damage in first half of decider when Kodai will be big n better side.

This is fun.

Lakshya takes second 21-5

Men's team QF MS1 | Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka (ranked World No 5)

Kodai takes opener 21-11

Kodai led 11-6. He is once again catching Sen on the forecourt backhand net corner. Thats not conventionally a Sen weakness, but the Japanese is an automaton. He has also gotten a little groovy with his attack - a touch more power, a shade more urgent. Sen is a slow starter. But he's fighting here to avoid being a no-starter.

Gopichand asking Sen to show some energy - because a tuned in Sen can flip things around.

Aside of this match, the atmosphere is drenched with quality and class. You have Chou Tien Chennai, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Kodai, Shi Yuqi and Jojo Christie all on the four courts. Dispersed dazzle.

For more than a decade into her career, hundreds didn’t arrive as frequently to Smriti Mandhana as the quality of her batting suggested they should.

There were plenty of starts and fifties across countries and formats, enough to establish her among the best batters of her generation. But converting those innings into hundreds remained an area for improvement.

The last two years have changed that. Mandhana’s 124 from 64 balls against Hong Kong in the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai was her 18th international century, taking her past Meg Lanning for the most hundreds in women’s international cricket. During the same innings, she also went past Mithali Raj’s 10868 runs to become the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket.

Read Shankar Narayan's piece on Mandhana's transformation from earlier this month

Oh, Manav. The counterpunch specialist shows flashes of his defensive brilliance but flatters to deceive in the third rubber.

He had An Jaehyun on the mat in Game 1, leading 10-4. The Korean won eight straight points to snatch the game from Manav's grasp.

The Indian kept at it, nevertheless. He took the third game and rallied from 4-8 down in Game 4 before losing 10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12.

With that, India lose the tie 0-3 to South Korea and bow out of the men's team event.

Women's Team QF WS3: India go down to Japan 1-3

Sindhu faded out in third set but is looking good for Individuals. The sheer quality of that match was high in the first two sets

Unnati is improving at a quick clip.

Tanvi -- tough learning for her. But Nozomi Okuhara is top tier, so understandable.

Treesa-Gayatri - on a roll here....Beating the Japanese and experienced ones at that, is quite impressive. Bodes well for Individuals The loss might drown the significance. But in a team event, one solitary win amounts to not much. India needs to buck up in womens singles.

The Indian women’s team campaign comes to an end after a 1-3 loss to Japan in the quarterfinals.

WS1: Pusarla V Sindhu lost to Akane Yamaguchi 23-21, 18-21, 11-21

WS2: Unnati Hooda lost to Tomoka Miyazaki 16-21, 18-21

WD1: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela bt Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto 21-17, 21-16

WS3: Tanvi Sharma lost to Nozomi Okuhara 12-21, 10-21

The Indian men's kabaddi team thrashed South Korea 63-31 in a Group A clash to continue its dominant run at the Asian Games here on Tuesday.

This is the second win for the defending champions and they sit on top of the group A.

India will next face Bangladesh on Wednesday, before taking on Chinese Taipei on Thursday in their final group A fixture.

India dominated from the outset, taking a 34-14 lead at half-time before extending their advantage in the second half, which they won 29-17.

India collected 38 points through successful raids, 17 bonus points, six points from all-outs and two points from super tackles. They conceded 23 points through opposition outs and eight bonus points.

India had begun its title defence with a resounding 49-24 win over hosts Japan in their opening group fixture.

The women's team will face Iran in their second group A match on Wednesday. it had defeated Bangladesh in their opener on Monday.

(Via Press Trust of India)

India suffered a 0-3 defeat to Malaysia in the men's team regu event of the Asian Games sepaktakraw competition here on Tuesday.

India showed some fight in the opening match but ran out of steam as Malaysia secured a 2-1 (15-13, 11-15, 15-6) advantage.

India then went down 0-2 (9-15, 12-15) in the second match before suffering another 0-2 (11-15, 5-15) defeat in the third to be blanked in the rubber.

India had opened their Group B campaign with a 1-2 loss to Japan on Monday.

They will face the Philippines in their final preliminary Group B match.

(From Press Trust of India)

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Sreeja attacks with a vengeance early in Game 3 to forge a handy lead before giving it up. She calls for a timeout at 9-8, and after a superb counterpunch to earn match point, she fails to convert.

She is unruffled this time however, and unleashes a powerful forehand to take the game 12-10 and move to within a game of winning the tie for India.

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Sreeja regroups and gets going with her long pips. The mistakes pile up from Suthasini and Sreeja capitalises to take the second game 11-6. The tie is essentially down to a best-of-three-games shootout now between Sreeja and Suthasini. Cliched as it may be, nerves could dictate the outcome more than tactics.

Sakshi Chaudhary starts her campaign with a unanimous 5-0 win over Paris Olympics light flyweight bronze medalist Aira Cordero Villegas of Philippines in the women’s 51kg in the first round.

from Nitin Sharma

Coming up: Badminton Men’s Team Quarterfinals in two hours time

India 🇮🇳 vs. Japan 🇯🇵

MS1: Lakshya Sen vs Kodai Naraoka

MD1: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs Takuro Hoki/ Yugo Kobayashi

MS2: Ayush Shetty vs Koki Watanabe

MD2: Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun vs Kakeru Kumagai/ Hiroki Nishi

MS3: Kidambi Srikanth vs Yushi Tanaka

Update from Shivani Naik on the Women’s Team QF WD1

India trail 0-2. Can Treesa-Gayatri keep this time alive? They are 21-17, 14-12 ahead

Treesa-Gayatri vs Fukushima-Matsumoto

Keeping the shuttle pinned to one zone, the Indians are frustrating the player not doing the retrieving. For the one who's crowded - mostly Fukushima, it's a lot of bending. But Treesa smashes are singing now as she gets India the 11-7 lead.

It is reduced to 12-10, but Gayatri is being smart here with body smashes drawing out the lifts. Then Treesa wrong foots Matsumoto from the net. She really is concentrated talent.

India's Chetan Bhatt lost out on a bronze medal after a defeat to Chinese Taipei's Meng-yu Chung by senshu in their men's Kumite 84kg bronze medal playoff.

Bhatt had earlier lost 0-8 to Jordan's Mohammad Aljafari in the semifinal to enter the bronze medal playoff at the Toyohashi Gymnasium.

Both karatekas scored one Yuko each, but Chung emerged victorious by virtue of Senshu, having scored the first point.

In karate, Senshu is awarded to the athlete who scores the first point without the opponent having scored before it and can decide the winner when the bout ends level

(From Press Trust of India)

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Orawan tries to curb Yashaswini by aiming most of her venomous shots at the Indian's backhand. Yashaswini is up to the task, however and minimises errors in the crunch moments to take the second game 11-8. She leads 2-0 and is in the driver's seat. But as Sreeja experienced in the first match, you cannot count Orawan out.

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Yashaswini comes out all guns blazing in Game 1 against Orawan. She switches direction smartly with her backhand to wrongfoot her Thai opponent repeatedly and takes the game 11-5.

Not to jinx her but Yashaswini is unbeaten so far at the Asiad with five straight wins, and was instrumental in the gritty victory over Singapore. Let's see if she can continue that streak here.

Update from Shivani Naik on the Women’s Team QF WS2

Treesa-Gayatri vs Fukushima-Matsumoto

India 15-15 Japan

Indian pair slightly ahead at 11-10 in first set. Save for the forecourt drop that Matsumoto engineered early and Fukushima pulled off at 14-12 for the Japanese, Treesa-Gayatri haven't really looked far off the pace. Done very well to go toe to toe with the experienced Japanese, with Gayatri scattering the shuttle with her cross drops.

The Japanese are trying to target Treesa with body smashes. She can be hemmed in briefly, but she will break free. She's playing on the back court far more today, compared to the World's. The Japanese top pair, aged 31 and 33 though have a wicked cross low drive angle where the lift becomes the only option. But this is close at 14-15 with Indians in pursuit.

The last rally went on for over 2 minutes

Shooting update from Pritish Raj

The Indian duo is still fourth and will most likely get eliminated.

However, the previous rule would have meant that India had silver assured after the solid show in qualification but the new rule has made it four teams competing against each other instead of two in each medal match

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

The see-saw battle continues in Game 5. Diya goes from 3-1 up to 3-4 down and Constantini calls for a timeout. He gesticulates animatedly to Diya, who looks a bit nervy.

She strings together a couple of points to inch ahead at 6-5 and it's now time for Jinnipa to go to her coach in a timeout.

The Thai contender proceeds to clinch a thrilling rally with a big forehand across court. Diya squanders her lead as the scoreline becomes 7-7.

The Indian composes herself again before pouncing on a loose return to load a killer forehand winner. She generates two match points but Jinnipa valiantly saves both.

It's Jinnipa's turn to earn a match point and Diya's turn to save it. Jinnipa comes at her again and this time, Diya is unable to thwart the Thai player.

Real disappointment for India and Diya as she loses 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-13 in a humdinger.

India now trail 1-2 in the tie and Yashaswini must win her reverse singles rubber against Orawan to keep her team alive at the Games.

Shooting update from Nitin Sharma

After the second series, China are the top of the leaderboard with 211.9 while Japan has climbed to the second spot with a total of 209.4. The Korean team stands at the third spot with a total of 209.2 while the Indian pair of Indian pair of Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane stands fourth with a total of 207.9.

here we go! this could be India's first gold from the Asian Games! Elavenil and Parth Mane are up against three teams. Ela already has two silvers while Parth has a silver as well.

Can they make this one gold?

“Among the most significant changes are the mixed team events. In both the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team and 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team as well as Trap Mixed Team competitions, the top four teams from qualification will advance directly to a single final. Unlike previous Olympic formats, all four teams will compete simultaneously from the start, eliminating the separate gold and bronze medal matches and creating a more dynamic and streamlined medal contest"

ISSF, the world governing body had shared this statement after the changes were made in the mixed team final format last year, says Nitin Sharma

Meanwhile, the Indian men's kabaddi team continued their dominant run by defeating South Korea 63-31 in the Group A clash.

This is the second win for the defending champions and they sit on top of the group A.

Update from Shivani Naik on the Women’s Team QF WS2

India 0-2 down

Miyazaki wins 21-18, 21-18

From 11-4 up, Unnati was torrented for 11 scathing points from Miyazaki as she could sneak in a mere 3 points as she trailed 14-15.

The tempo manipulation is something Unnati (and the likes of Tanvi Sharma) will need to quickly grasp. Or they are playing into hands of top names. Miyazaki merely hit the groove and kept going as the pace remained constant. If she can build a rally with patience, Miyazaki will make mistakes. The Japanese did fall back 16-18. Deny her the pace momentum. And definitely deny her the short lifts. But Miyazaki dragged the pace back where she wanted and raced to the end.

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Diya retaliates in the second game. Her forehand drives land in disconcerting spots for Jinnipa, who is unable to replicate her counterlooping heroics from Game 1. Diya converts game point at the second time of asking to take it 11-5 and level things up.

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Game 1 is off to a frenetic start as Jinnipa Sawettabut subdues Diya with some fantastic counterlooping. She goes on the offensive relentlessly and takes the opening game 11-7.

Each Thai player has punched above her weight so far, belying rankings. Pair that with the Indian men's team showing, especially against Iran, and there is serious food for thought if you're an Indian TT enthusiast.

Fortune favours Yashaswini early in the decider. She gets a net cord and a lucky edge off the table to take the lead. Thailand call for a timeout but it doesn't work as Yashaswini continues to rattle off the points.

Suthasini breaks the Indian's run and takes three straight points to make it level at 9-9. Yashaswini finally comes up clutch, nailing a forehand and then drawing a wayward one from Suthasini. She wins the match 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a tense 39 minutes.

The tie is level at 1-1 now and Diya Chitale is warming up for her crucial rubber.

(Update from Bhuvan Gupta)

Yashaswini is back in it. She's more urgent and proactive with her strokes now, pushing decisively and stepping around swiftly to her stronger forehand side. The rallies lengthen and with that, the quality of gameplay gets elevated. Yashaswini goes up 10-8 and converts her second game point to take the match to a fifth game.

(Update from Bhuvan Gupta)

Update from Shivani Naik on the Women's Team QF WS2

India 0-1 down

Unnati vs Miyazaki 11-10 up

There's a surprise. Unnati Hooda is using some great deception. The footwork indicates one way, the racquet face turns the other way.

But Miyazaki will need to be moved around for Unnati to take control of this one. She does well to stay in the rally first. Miyazaki doesn't have gruelling speed and relies on gentler rallies before the kill fetches up. Unnati used that to her advantage, and snuck in plenty of shuttle scatters to get the Japanese on her toes. The round the head smash - Lakshyasque - isn't shabby either.

Her recovery from the lunge is decent, but keeping Miyazaki back will be the challenge.

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Suthasini comes roaring back in Game 2. Ranked world No. 133, she puts the 76-ranked Yashaswini in all sorts of trouble to generate five game points and convert the first of them. India and Constantini would certainly not be happy with the way with the tie is progressing. Still a fair way to go, though.

India lead South Korea 18-9 in the men's kabaddi clash. This is a big game for the Indian team. The Indian kabaddi fraternity still hasn't forgotten the hurt of the 2018 Asian Games where they could not win a gold medal and returned home with a bronze. It was a group stage defeat to Korea in that edition which started India's issues. It meant that they did not top their group and had to face Iran in the semis. They lost to Iran and eventually won bronze.

Today, India inflict their first all out on Korea thanks to Jaideep and Sunil Kumar shoving Korean captain Jang Kun Lee out of bounds.

A nine-point gap for India.

Sindhu loses to Yamaguchi as Japan take a 1-0 lead over India in the women's team quarter-finals.

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Sreeja regains her chop-smash rhythm somewhat in Game 5, doing the early running to go ahead. Orawan's coach calls for a timeout, perhaps partly to stem her flow. It works, as Orawan takes three quick points to reduce the deficit to 5-6. It's now time for Massimo Constantini to call for a timeout. He steadies Sreeja and she responds nicely to regain a four-point cushion at 9-5.

But the Thai paddler is not going down in a whimper. She steps to her left and lets rip a booming forehand to rattle Sreeja. She strings together four straight points to bring the decider level at 9-9. Sreeja somehow induces an error from the leftie to earn a matchpoint but Orawan keeps it alive. 10-10 now.

Sreeja succumbs to the pressure and sinks a forehand in the net to lose the game 10-12 and with that, the match. Quite the comeback from Orawan - she looked dead and buried after the second game. Sreeja can't mask her disappointment as she snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. India slip to 0-1 in the best-of-five tie.

Sindhu vs Yamaguchi (India vs Japan in women's team quarters) update from Shivani Naik

Yamaguchi takes second 21-18 after being pipped in the first.

23-21, 18-21

Coach Pullela Gopichand had told Revzsportz in Nagoya on Monday that conditions have tended to be fast at Nagoya -- small arena, drift brought in by need to keep the hall cooler. And Fast = Good for Indians. Also that the first match of the tie will set the tone. Sindhu has responded well in the Women's Teams. A 9-11 score not insurmountable.

Sindhu just has that hold on Japanese.

Both players have used the body attacks well. While Yamaguchi defense can pick the unretrievables 9 times out of 10, the Sindhu attack can bulldozer through. And in faster courts, the attack just cascades. So for second time, she goes from 13-17 to 16-17.

It's expansive cross court smashes like on 17-19 that make Yamaguchi resistance futile....though not for long. The Japanese World No 3 rushes through the second set taking it 21-18 finally catching the Indian in the net lunge quagmire,

From Pritish Raj

Indian duo of Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Rakesh Mane enter the final of 10m Air rifle mixed team event.

The Indian duo scored 634.6 in the qualification with both shooters shooting 3 series each.

India will face China in gold medal match who qualified with 638.9.

Elavenil was supreme in the qualification round with a score of 319.3 points while the young Parth Mane struggled with 315.3

Update from Bhuvan Gupta

Things going per plan for Sreeja so far. She's switching from the defensive red pips to the attacking black fluidly, finishing off points with forehand drives. Orawan out of sorts so far as Sreeja takes the second game 11-1 to lead 2-0 in the first match. One more game and the first rubber is India's.

Sindhu vs Yamaguchi update from Shivani Naik

Sindhu takes opening set 23-21.

Sindhu did well to cover up the 6-10 deficit reaching 12-12. But all the action is centred on the frontcourt. While the Indian can charge the net and attack with short smashes and aggressive pushes, she also got trapped on the forecourt lunge when dictated by Yamaguchi drops at the very same spot.

These are fast and furious paced rallies as they are with These Two. So, Sindhu roared back from 13-17 to level at 18 and continued charging ferociously to go up 20-19.

That net charge was Fire.

However, Yamaguchi is three time World champ for a reason -- nailing a Beckhamesque bend smash on the line to go up 21-20.

Fast doubles-like exchange puts Sindhu ahead at 22-21. And the long-levered far-flung reaching wristy drop across court gave Sindhu the first set 23-21.

The Indian women’s team comprising of PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda, Devika Sihag, Tanvi Sharma, Isharani Baruah, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Kavipriya, Simran, and Tanisha are facing Japan in the quarter-finals. And first up, we have Sindhu vs Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles!