SportsPosted at: Sep 22 2026 10:38PM


Lakshya leads badminton revival, women cricketers put India on gold board

BD Narayankar
Bengaluru, Sept 22 (UNI) Lakshya Sen turned the tide for India on a dramatic third day of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, producing a stunning comeback against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka to revive India’s badminton campaign, while the women’s cricket team delivered the country’s first gold medal with a commanding victory over Sri Lanka.
It was a day of contrasting fortunes for Indian badminton.
While the women’s team suffered a disappointing 3-1 quarter-final defeat to Japan and crashed out of the competition, Lakshya and the men’s team responded in emphatic fashion, sweeping Japan 3-0 to assure India of a medal and book a semi-final against defending champions China.
Lakshya produced the defining individual moment of the day, overcoming a six-point deficit in the deciding game against Naraoka.
After losing the opening game 11-21, Lakshya bounced back to take the second 21-4. He then trailed 13-19 in the decider, but refused to surrender, reeling off eight straight points to complete a remarkable 11-21, 21-4, 21-19 victory.
His comeback gave India a 1-0 lead and provided the momentum for the team’s eventual 3-0 victory.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty then defeated former world champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 21-18, 24-22, before Ayush Shetty completed the clean sweep with a 21-10, 21-19 victory over Asian Games medallist Koki Watanabe.
The result assured India of back-to-back Asian Games team badminton medals after a gap of 40 years.
Reflecting on his comeback, Lakshya said varying his pace and remaining patient in the deciding game made the difference.
“I was down by six points and at the end, it was just important for me to stay patient, stay calm at that time, and just keep playing with a smart strategy and not give any easy points,” he said.
Earlier, the Indian women’s badminton team’s campaign ended in the quarter-finals against Japan.
P V Sindhu, Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma lost their respective singles matches, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand registered India’s only win by defeating Japan’s world No. 4 pair Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 21-17, 21-16.
On the cricket field, India finally opened its gold-medal account in style.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led women’s team successfully defended its Asian Games title with a crushing 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final.
India, after electing to bat, posted an Asian Games record 216 for three, with Smriti Mandhana anchoring the innings with 79 and Shafali Verma contributing 48.
Richa Ghosh then produced a blistering finish, remaining unbeaten on 49 off only 22 balls as India surpassed the previous Games record of 202 for four set by Hong Kong China at Hangzhou 2023.
Sri Lanka’s chase quickly unravelled under the pressure of India’s spinners. They were bowled out for just 69 in 15.4 overs, with Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma taking two wickets apiece, while Shreyanka Patil and Shree Charani also claimed wickets.
India’s 147-run win secured its first gold medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Games and retained the title won at Hangzhou 2023.
Smriti Mandhana said it was a special feeling to be on the podium and watch the national flag rise after seeing such moments on television.
Wushu star Roshibina Devi also ensured that India would add another medal to its tally after defeating Macao China’s Chu Man Sin 5-0 in the women’s 60kg sanda quarter-finals.
Roshibina’s victory guaranteed her a third consecutive Asian Games medal, following her bronze at Jakarta 2018 and silver at Hangzhou 2023.
There was disappointment for fellow Indian Aryan, who lost 2-1 to Uzbekistan’s Saydullo Abdurashitov in the men’s 56kg sanda quarter-finals despite winning the opening round.
The men’s kabaddi team continued its dominant start, defeating South Korea 63-31 for its second successive victory.
Defending champions India controlled the contest throughout, maintaining their strong start to the competition.
The men’s hockey team also registered another emphatic victory, thrashing Sri Lanka 16-1 in their second Pool A match.
Jugraj Singh led the scoring with four goals, while Abhishek and Dilpreet Singh completed hat-tricks as India continued its prolific scoring run.
Boxing produced another major highlight, with Sakshi Chaudhary opening her women’s 51kg campaign with a unanimous 5-0 victory over Olympic bronze medallist Aira Villegas of the Philippines.
The Commonwealth Games medallist will next face world champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan.
Jadumani Singh Mandengbam also advanced to the men’s 55kg Round of 16 after beating Nepal’s Chandra Bahadur Thapa 5-0. He will next meet Olympic silver medallist Carlo Paalam of the Philippines.
Shooting continued to offer medal possibilities, with Anantjeet Singh Naruka moving into second place in the men’s skeet qualification with 96 points after three days.
Mairaj Ahmad Khan was 23rd with 91 and Bhavtegh Singh 35th with 86. India occupied fifth place in the team standings ahead of Wednesday’s final qualification round and medal-deciding competition.
In women’s skeet, Olympian Raiza Dhillon was fifth with 92 points, Parinaaz Dhaliwal ninth with 89 and Maheshwari Chauhan 16th with 85. India were third in the team standings.
Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane narrowly missed a medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, finishing fourth with 376.3 points.
Table tennis proved a mixed campaign for India. The women’s team, which had fought back to beat Thailand 3-2 in the Round of 16, bowed out in the quarter-finals after a 3-0 loss to North Korea.
The men’s team also exited after suffering a 3-0 defeat to South Korea in the pre-quarter-finals.
Pranati Nayak provided a positive result in gymnastics, qualifying for the women’s vault final after finishing seventh in qualification with an average score of 12.916.
In swimming, India’s quartet of Rohit Benediction, Danush Suresh, Rishabh Das and Akash Mani finished eighth in the men’s 4x100m medley relay final in 3:44.26. Aryan Nehra finished 12th in the men’s 1500m freestyle.
India’s equestrian team event campaign ended with Ashish Limaye finishing sixth in jumping, while Fouaad Mirza was 24th and Arjan Singh Nagra was eliminated.
India also suffered defeats in men’s regu sepak takraw, karate and soft tennis, while the country’s eFootball pair of Chinmay Sahoo and Danial Shakeel Patel finished the opening day unbeaten in Group F after drawing with Uzbekistan and receiving a walkover against Mongolia.
At the close of Day 3, India’s medal tally stood at seven — one gold, four silver and two bronze.
The day, however, belonged to contrasting images: the women cricketers standing atop the podium with India’s first gold, and Lakshya Sen refusing to give in when defeat appeared imminent.
From a six-point deficit to eight straight points, Lakshya’s comeback became the defining sporting fightback of a day that also saw India’s medal campaign gather fresh momentum.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Lakshya leads badminton revival# women cricketers put India on gold board
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