Ichinomiya City, September 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
World Championships bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand kept India’s hopes alive in the Asian Games women’s badminton team quarterfinal against Japan by defeating Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in the third rubber on Tuesday.
With India trailing 0-2 after PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda lost their respective singles matches, Treesa and Gayatri delivered in the must-win doubles rubber, beating the world No. 3 Japanese pair 21-17, 21-16 in straight games at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.
The Indian pair made a strong start and maintained their advantage through both games to bring India back into the tie.
Earlier, Unnati Hooda lost her second-rubber match against Akane Yamaguchi 21-16, 21-18, despite taking an early lead in both games. Unnati was ahead 11-10 at the interval in the opening game but lost momentum as Yamaguchi fought back to take it 21-16.
The Indian then produced another strong start in the second game, opening up an 11-4 advantage. Yamaguchi, however, gradually turned the contest around and moved ahead 16-15 before closing out the match 21-18.
In the opening rubber, two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu fought back from a 6-10 deficit to level the first game at 12-12. She then recovered from 15-18 down, saved a game point and won the opener 23-21.
Three-time world champion Yamaguchi responded by taking the second game 21-18 before dominating the decider 21-11 to give Japan the early advantage.
Following the doubles win, India need to win the remaining rubbers to overturn Japan’s 2-1 lead and advance to the semifinals.
India’s women have won only one Asian Games team medal, a bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games. At the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, the Indian women’s team exited in the quarterfinals after losing 0-3 to Thailand.
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