Asian Games, India vs Japan: Can PV Sindhu help the women's team end 12-year drought?
India’s women’s and men’s teams will face Japan in the quarter-finals of the team events on Tuesday, September 22, in Aichi-Nagoya. The draw has not been kind to either Indian team, with hosts Japan posing a significant threat in both ties.
India’s 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, are heading into their big-ticket quarter-final as the runners-up of the 2022 edition.
The women’s team will begin their campaign at 6am IST against Japan, who received a bye into the quarter-finals. India hammered Kazakhstan 3-0 in their opening-round tie on Sunday.
All eyes will be on PV Sindhu, with the senior campaigner needing 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, having been named for women’s singles as well as the second women’s doubles match, 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 match, Sindhu will face Akane Yamaguchi, the world No. 3 and a World Championships silver medallist. Sindhu has a 16-14 head-to-head record against her familiar rival and won their most recent meeting at the Japan Open in July.
It is imperative that Sindhu gives India a strong start, particularly with the relatively inexperienced Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma set to play the second and third singles matches. Japan have several options to choose from, but have opted for experienced campaigner Nozomi Okuhara and 20-year-old Tomoka Miyazaki. Miyazaki is ranked No. 7 in the world, ahead of Okuhara at No. 10.
Japan have three shuttlers inside the top 10 of the women’s singles rankings, while Sindhu is ranked 11th, Unnati 24th and Tanvi 26th.
In doubles, India will pin their hopes on World Championships bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly. They face the world No. 3 pairing of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
India need Sindhu and their in-form Gayatri-Treesa pairing to win their matches and will hope one of the remaining ties produces an upset. A win in the quarter-final would take India into the semi-finals and guarantee them at least a bronze medal.
India vs Japan women’s team quarterfinals line-ups (Ranking in braces)
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 take down Japan?
The men’s team will be riding high on confidence after opening their campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win over Bangladesh.
India, however, 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 raced into a 2-0 lead after wins for Ayush Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, but lost the remaining three matches. India were without the likes of Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth for that tie.
This time, India have a full-strength squad to choose from, although the quarter-final is unlikely to be straightforward.
India fielded their strongest singles unit against Bangladesh, with Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth all winning their matches.
Japan, meanwhile, rested their top-ranked player Kodai Naraoka in their 3-0 win over Kazakhstan.
Naraoka is likely to lead Japan’s challenge on Tuesday and could face Lakshya in the opening men’s singles match. 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 have the option of opening with Ayush Shetty, who defeated Naraoka as recently as the Australian Open last year.
India could also turn to the experienced HS Prannoy, although the veteran has endured an inconsistent 2026 season, with a 10-12 win-loss record.
India will bank heavily on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are fresh from winning the China Masters, as well as their second doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan. But the singles players will have to keep India in the contest early if the doubles pairings are to have a chance to finish the job.
India vs Japan men’s team quarter-final line-ups
Yet to be announced.
– Ends
