Asian Games India vs Japan: Can PV Sindhu help women’s team end 12-year drought?
India’s women’s and men’s teams will face Japan in the quarterfinals of the team events in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday, September 22. The draw was not kind to either Indian team, with hosts Japan posing a significant threat in both matches.
Indian women have not won a medal in the women’s team event at the Asian Games since their first and only podium finish – a bronze in 2014. The men’s team, meanwhile, head into the quarterfinals with a big ticket as the 2022 runners-up.
The women’s team will begin their campaign at 6:00 AM IST against quarter-finalists Japan. India beat Kazakhstan 3-0 in Sunday’s play-off of the opening round.
All eyes will be on PV Sindhu, with the senior fighter having to be at her best if India are to upset Japan, who won bronze in the women’s team event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Sindhu will be doing a double shift on Tuesday as she has been named for the women’s singles as well as the second match of the women’s doubles where she will partner Tanisha Crasto. India had the option of fielding the inexperienced Simran Singhi and Kavipriya Selvam but opted for the experience of Sindhu and Crasto.
In the opening singles, Sindhu will take on Akane Yamaguchi, the world number three and silver medalist at the World Championships. Sindhu is 16-14 against her familiar opponent and won her last match at the Japan Open in July.
It is imperative that Sindhu gives India a strong start, especially with the relatively inexperienced Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma playing their second and third singles matches. Japan have several options to choose from, but have opted for veteran fighter Nozomi Okuhara and 20-year-old Tomoka Miyazaki. Miyazaki is ranked 7th in the world, ahead of Okuhara at 10th.
Japan has three shuttlers in the top ten of the women’s singles rankings, while Sindhu is ranked 11th, Unnati is ranked 24th and Tanvi is ranked 26th.
In the doubles, India will pin their hopes on World Championship bronze medalists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly. They face the pair of World No. 3 Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
India need Sindhu and their in-form pair Gayatri-Treesa to win their matches and will be hoping one of the remaining ties pulls off an upset. A win in the quarter-finals would take India to the semi-finals and ensure them at least a bronze medal.
India Women’s Team Quarter Final Lineups Vs. Japan (order in curly brackets)
Match 1
WS 1: PV Sindhu (11) vs Akane Yamaguchi (3)
match 2
WS 2: Unnati Hooda (24) vs Tomoka Miyazaki (7)
match 3
WD 1: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand (26) Vs. Yuki Fukushima/Matsumoto Mayu (3)
Match 4
WD 2: PV Sindhu/Tanisha Crasto vs Kie Nakanishi/Rin Uesaka
Match 5
WS 3: Tanvi Sharma (26) vs Nozomi Okuhara (10)
Can the men destroy Japan?
The men’s team will be confident after opening their campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win over Bangladesh.
However, India know that Japan can cause them problems. Earlier this year, India lost 2-3 to Japan in the group stage of the Badminton Asia Team Championships. India took a 2-0 lead after wins by Ayush Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty but lost the remaining three matches. India were without the likes of Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth.
This time, India have a full-fledged squad to choose from, although the quarter-finals are unlikely to be easy.
India fielded their strongest singles against Bangladesh with Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth all winning their matches.
Meanwhile, Japan rested their top player Kodai Naraoka in a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan.
Naraoka is likely to lead the Japanese challenge on Tuesday and could face Lakshya in the opening men’s singles. The Japanese shuttler has beaten Lakshya six times in eight meetings, including their last three encounters on the international circuit.
A lot could depend on how well Lakshya starts. India also has an option to open with Ayush Shetty, who defeated Naraok recently at the Australian Open last year.
India could also turn to the experienced HS Prannoy, though the veteran endured an inconsistent 2026 season with a 10-12 win-loss record.
India will rely heavily on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, fresh from winning the China Masters, as well as their second doubles pair of MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan. But the singles players will need to keep India in the contest early if the doubles pair are to have any chance of finishing the job.
India vs Men’s Quarter Final Lineups Japan
To be announced.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
21 Sep 2026 17:03 IST