India sinks to 40-year low in tennis after zero medals at 2026 Asian Games

India’s tennis campaign at the 2026 Asian Games ended at a rare low as the country failed to win a medal in the sport for the first time in 40 years.

Sumit Nagal’s 4-6, 4-6 defeat to China’s Wu Yibing on Thursday brought the curtains down on India’s campaign in Nagoya. The 29-year-old, seeded seventh, was the country’s last remaining hope after India’s doubles and other singles combinations were eliminated.

Nagal’s defeat, which came in one hour and 38 minutes, confirmed India’s first Asian Games tennis campaign without a medal since 1986. India had won medals at every edition since 1990.

Asian Games 2026, 1 October update

The result marks a sharp departure from India’s recent record at the continental showpiece. At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale won gold in mixed doubles, while Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan won silver in men’s doubles. India has also won at least one tennis gold in every Asian Games from 2002 to Hangzhou 2022.

NAGAL BROUGHT THE CHALLENGE FOR SINGLES

Nagal was the only Indian to advance deep into the men’s singles draw. He opened his campaign with a 6-4, 6-0 win over South Korea’s Hong Seong-chan before defeating Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.

However, his run ended against third seed Wu. Nagal lost both sets 4-6, leaving India without a singles player in the medal rounds.

Dhakshineswar Suresh also advanced to the third round. He beat Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6 before losing 3-6, 4-6 to sixth seed Chun-Hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei.

India did not have an entry in the women’s singles draw. The final line-up included only Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale among the women, both of whom were selected for the doubles.

DOUBLE HOPE DISAPPEARS IN THE QUARTERFINALS

India entered the men’s doubles with two combinations, but both fell in the quarterfinals.

Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh, the fifth seeds, lost 6-7(5), 3-6 to Chenjui Ho and Yu-Hsia Hsu of Chinese Taipei.

N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar, the top bowlers, suffered an even narrower defeat. After winning the opening set 7-6(4), they lost the second tie-break set 6-7(7) before losing 8-10 in the deciding tie-break match against China’s Jiang Fumin and Zhang Tianhui.

The women’s doubles campaign ended in the opening round. Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale lost 7-5, 3-6, 5-10 to Anna Danilina and Yuliya Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

India’s mixed doubles challenge also ended without a medal. N Sriram Balaji and Ankita Raina lost 4-6, 4-6 to Hong Kong’s Eudice Chong and Kairan Thompson in the opening round.

Yuki Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale had a first-round bye before losing 3-6, 4-6 to Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh and Chun-Hsin Tseng in the second round.

As a result, Indian tennis has an unwanted distinction in Nagoya: no medals from any of its events, ending a streak of podium finishes at every Asian Games since 1990.

– The end