India lose 3-2 to Japan in men’s section, to Thailand in women’s event, despite Ayush, Tanvi wins; title defense hinges on Tanvi, Treesa-Gayatri & Rakshitha vs China

India's depth looked a worrying concern as they lost second and third singles and second doubles in both men's and women's categories

4 min readUpdated: Feb 5, 2026 09:07 PM IST

Treesa-Gayatri in action against Thailand during the group stage at the Tsingtao Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026. (Badminton Asia Team Championships)

Ayush Shetty, who entered Top 25 this Monday, started his team stint with a 21-18, 15-21, 21-11 win against Japanese veteran Kenta Nishimoto, who has often posed headaches for Indians with his doughty play. But it echoed the women’s tie, as India lost with identical 3-2 margins to Thailand and Japan in men’s at the Asian Team championship.

Besides Ayush, Satwik-Chirag, Tanvi Sharma and Treesa-Gayatri were the only ones to nick two matches each in the two sections, and Anmol Kharb was surely missed, as the defending champions India couldn’t catch a break in the second and third singles.

After Tanvi Sharma putting India 1-0 ahead beating familiar Indian punching bag Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-14, 17-21, 21-18, Treesa-Gayatri too hiccuped on way to a 21-14, 20-22, 21-11 win, and the second set stutter saw them go from 15-12 up to 17-19 down and get dragged into a decider. Snapping out of that reverie, they did well to race to wrap up the match against World No 65 Nattamon Laisuan – Teedapron Kleebyeesun.

Satwik-Chirag in action against Japan during the group stage at the Tsingtao Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026. (Badminton Asia Team Championships)

Earlier playing Busanan Ongbamrungphan, Tanvi raced to take the opening set but the Thai accelerated from 17-17 in the second. Tanvi made heavy weather of the decider against the opponent ranked No 16, aged 29

India’s young No 42, aged 17, playing first singles in absence of Sindhu and Unnati Hooda did well to close out the match eventually.

Rakshitha Ramraj disappointed 21-19, 21-17 but she was up against the player in red hot form on the circuit Pitchamon Optaniputh, a.k.a Pink.

Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra could do very little against Hathaithip-Napaipakorn, after a spirited first-set. They went from 13-18 to winning it 21-19, but we’re outplayed thereafter.

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Malvika Bansod tasked with downing Pornpicha Choeeikiwong went down 21-18, 21-14 in a match she ought to have converted, ranked 47 as against No 69. But Malvika is yet to hit the high notes after she nastily broke her knee last season.

Ayush playing the first singles of the group men’s tie at the Asian team championship in Qingdao, China, did well to reverse a 11-15 and 16-18 deficit in the first set, taking five points in a row to claim the opener 21-18. The match that went on for 74 minutes, saw the 20-year-old Indian falter in the second, but he was in stomping form in the decider that he centered to 21-11.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were reliable as ever beating Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the second match of this tie, 21-18, 15-21, 21-12. HS Prannoy didn’t get going against Yushi Tanaka losing 21-17, 21-11 and hariharan and Pruthvi had no measure of Kakeru-Hiroki losing 21-14, 21-10. Tharun Mannepalli raised hopes taking the opener 21-12 against Koki Watanabe but faded off 21-14, 21-11 thereafter.

Also Read | Badminton Asia Team C’ships: Kidambi Srikanth stars in decider as Indian men edge Singapore, women beat Myanmar convincingly

India were drawn to play China in the women’s quarters on what will be a fine opportunity for players to match their wits with the second string of the top nation. China didn’t play on Thursday and beat Malaysia 4-1.

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Tanvi plays World No 10 Gao Fang Jie, Treesa-Gayatri take on Olympic champ Jia Yi Fan pairing with young Zhang Shu Xian, Rakshitha plays Xu Went Jing while Tanisha-Shruti line up against Chen Fan Shu and Liu Jia Yue.

National champion Surya Charishma Timri will seek to emulate Anmol Kharb fielded for last singles – should the tie reach there – against Yuan An Qi. The breakout star of when India won gold, had helped India beat Japan and China from 2-2 tie break situations.