The indomitable Lakshya Sen locked in and delivered his very best as India beat Japan 3-0 in the men’s badminton quarter-finals at the Asian Games. The win took India into the semi-finals and guaranteed them a medal, extending their run of back-to-back podium finishes after they won silver in the men’s team event at the 2022 edition.
Lakshya Sen led the charge, winning the key opening fixture against World No.7 Kodai Naraoka. Despite being hammered 11-21 in the opening game, Lakshya made a sensational comeback to win the last two games 21-5, 21-19.
Lakshya’s gruelling 1 hour 6-minute contest against home favourite Naraoka gave the Indian team a big confidence boost. The doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, followed by second men’s singles player Ayush Shetty, rallied on the back of Lakshya’s performance, winning their respective matches in straight games.
INDOMITABLE LAKSHYA BEATS NARAOKA
The atmosphere at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium was charged up, considering that only hours earlier, the hosts had defeated India 3-1 in the women’s team event. Playing against PV Sindhu’s team, the higher-ranked Japan defeated all of India’s singles players to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.
In the women’s team event, Sindhu’s loss against Akane Yamaguchi in the opening match of the tie proved to be a deciding factor on Tuesday.
Asian Games 2026 Live: September 22 Updates
When Lakshya went into his contest against Naraoka, he knew India could not afford to let the match roll into the final tie. However, playing from the far end, Lakshya started poorly and conceded an 11-6 lead.
Lakshya eventually lost the first game 11-21.
Drift on the far side of the court was the main issue for the players on Tuesday. The shuttlers not only struggled with the flight of the shuttle but also with the sideways drift.
After losing the opening game, the Indian coaching staff had a strong word with Lakshya, explaining that there was no point in playing short and flat rallies.
From the second game onwards, Lakshya completely changed his style and trusted his defence and long rallies against Naraoka.
One of the key reasons behind playing the waiting game was that earlier in the day, a proactive PV Sindhu had gassed out quickly while trying to kill off the game in the second game.
Lakshya was told to remain patient and trust Naraoka to make mistakes on the bad side of the court. The plan paid off, with Lakshya racing to a big 21-5 win in the second game.
With the first match tied 1-1 after two games, India were back in the contest. The third and deciding game of the first tie turned out to be a fascinating contest.
Lakshya trailed 6-11 at the break, but had faith that he could make up the points once he moved to the better side of the court.
Once Lakshya changed to the better side at the halfway point, the game started to change. However, a series of unfortunate errors saw Lakshya fall behind 14-19 against Naraoka.
The Japanese was in full control at the time and appeared to be on course to win the contest. However, Lakshya was not letting go today. The Indian star defended shuttle after shuttle and replied with flat half-smashes to put Naraoka under pressure.
From 14-19, Lakshya pulled the game back, winning the decider 21-19 and handing India a crucial 1-0 lead in the quarter-final.
Playing the first doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have won two titles this season, registered a 21-18, 24-22 win over former world champions Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo to extend India’s lead to 2-0.
Ayush Shetty, a finalist at the Badminton Asia Championships this year, then produced an impressive performance to see off World No.16 Koki Watanabe 21-10, 21-19 to seal the match and a medal for India.
India will face the winner of the other quarter-final between defending champions China and Korea in the last-four stage on Wednesday.
– Ends
