Asian Games, badminton: Defending champions Satwik-Chirag crash out
What's the story
In a major upset, India's defending champions in men's doubles badminton, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, crashed out of the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday. The fourth-seeded Indian duo was stunned by Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun in the opening round. The match lasted for one hour and eight minutes with scores reading 21-12, 19-21, 14-21.
Match details
Here's how the match panned out
The Indian pair started strong, winning the first game 21-12 in 20 minutes.
However, Teeraratsakul and Sukphun slowly found their footing and turned the match around.
They kept the pressure on Satwik and Chirag in the second game, winning it 21-19 after 24 minutes to force a decider.
The Thai pair dominated the final game, wrapping up their upset victory in just 19 minutes with a score of 21-14.
Campaign setback
Major blow to India's campaign
The early exit of Satwik and Chirag has dealt a major blow to India's individual badminton campaign at the Asian Games 2026.
The duo had entered as fourth seeds in the men's doubles draw, hoping to replicate their gold-medal success from the last edition of the Games in Hangzhou.
Their first-round exit leaves India without one of its biggest medal contenders in this event.
Mixed doubles success
Good news from mixed doubles
Despite the setback in men's doubles, there was some good news from the mixed doubles competition.
Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto made a stunning start to their campaign, defeating Maldives's Ahmed Nibal and Aminath Abdul Razzaq 21-8, 21-7 in just 21 minutes.
They then faced Malaysia's world No.10 pair Lai Shevon Jemie and Goh Soon Huat for the first time and pulled off an upset victory with scores reading 22-20, 24-22.