Asian Games 2026: Satwik-Chirag win not sufficient as India lose males’s badminton semifinal to China; accept bronze

India’s males’s badminton staff settled for a bronze medal on the Asian Games at Aichi-Nagoya after dropping 3-1 to China within the semifinal on Wednesday.India had received the silver medal on the final version in Hangzhou in 2023, the place they’d additionally misplaced to China within the last.China took an early lead after Shi Yu Qi defeated Lakshya Sen in straight video games within the opening singles match.India hit again by means of the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who beat China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20 to degree the tie at 1-1. The Indian pair defeated the reigning World Championship gold medallists to maintain India within the contest.China regained the lead when Li Shifeng defeated Ayush Shetty 21-19, 21-13 within the second singles match, making it 2-1.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule | Medal tallyIndia wanted a win within the fourth match to remain alive, however the doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun misplaced 21-16, 17-21, 21-9. The Indian duo fought again to win the second recreation after dropping the opener, however the Chinese pair dominated the decider to seal the tie and ship China into the ultimate.Nevertheless, it was a creditable outcome for the Indian males’s staff as they secured back-to-back Asian Games staff medals for the primary time in 40 years, following the bronze medals received within the 1982 and 1986 editions.