India's tennis campaign at the Asian Games 2026 ended without a medal on Thursday — the first time the country has returned from the continental event empty-handed in the sport since 1986.
Sumit Nagal, India's top-ranked singles player and the last remaining medal hope, lost 4-6, 4-6 to China's Wu Yibing in the men's singles quarterfinal at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya. The match lasted one hour and 38 minutes.
Nagal had reached the quarterfinals after beating Hong for the first time in his career and then overcoming Fomin, but Wu proved too strong. The Indian fought hard and created multiple opportunities but could not convert them. "We obviously would have wanted stronger results, particularly given the quality and experience within the team," India coach Ashutosh Singh said, describing the competition as "extremely high".
The singles exit capped a bleak two days for India. N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar suffered a heartbreaking men's doubles quarterfinal defeat, going down 7-6(4), 6-7(7), 8-10 to China's Fumin Chiang and Tianhui Ziang. Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh fell 6-7(5), 3-6 to Chinese Taipei's Yu-Hsiou Hsu and Chenjui Ho, while Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale lost 3-6, 4-6 to Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh and Chun-Hsion Tseng in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. Dhakshineswar had earlier been knocked out of the men's singles third round by sixth seed Tseng Chun-Hsin of Chinese Taipei.
India had entered Aichi-Nagoya with hopes of at least three medals, aiming to extend a streak of winning tennis medals at every Asian Games since 1990. Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ankita Raina were the last singles players to win Asian Games medals for India, with bronze at Jakarta 2018, while Rohan Bopanna anchored gold-medal runs in 2018 and 2022.
The blank comes on the heels of India's Davis Cup qualifying defeat to South Korea in Seoul, and follows Nagal's quarterfinal exit at Hangzhou 2023 — a run of setbacks that leaves Indian tennis facing hard questions about depth and direction.
Sources: No tennis medal for India at Asian Games for first time in 40 years — The Times of India; Sumit Nagal's Quarterfinal Exit Ends India's Asian Games Tennis Campaign Without A Medal — Times Now
Sumit Nagal, India's top-ranked singles player and the last remaining medal hope, lost 4-6, 4-6 to China's Wu Yibing in the men's singles quarterfinal at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya. The match lasted one hour and 38 minutes.
Nagal had reached the quarterfinals after beating Hong for the first time in his career and then overcoming Fomin, but Wu proved too strong. The Indian fought hard and created multiple opportunities but could not convert them. "We obviously would have wanted stronger results, particularly given the quality and experience within the team," India coach Ashutosh Singh said, describing the competition as "extremely high".
The singles exit capped a bleak two days for India. N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar suffered a heartbreaking men's doubles quarterfinal defeat, going down 7-6(4), 6-7(7), 8-10 to China's Fumin Chiang and Tianhui Ziang. Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh fell 6-7(5), 3-6 to Chinese Taipei's Yu-Hsiou Hsu and Chenjui Ho, while Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale lost 3-6, 4-6 to Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh and Chun-Hsion Tseng in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. Dhakshineswar had earlier been knocked out of the men's singles third round by sixth seed Tseng Chun-Hsin of Chinese Taipei.
India had entered Aichi-Nagoya with hopes of at least three medals, aiming to extend a streak of winning tennis medals at every Asian Games since 1990. Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ankita Raina were the last singles players to win Asian Games medals for India, with bronze at Jakarta 2018, while Rohan Bopanna anchored gold-medal runs in 2018 and 2022.
The blank comes on the heels of India's Davis Cup qualifying defeat to South Korea in Seoul, and follows Nagal's quarterfinal exit at Hangzhou 2023 — a run of setbacks that leaves Indian tennis facing hard questions about depth and direction.
Sources: No tennis medal for India at Asian Games for first time in 40 years — The Times of India; Sumit Nagal's Quarterfinal Exit Ends India's Asian Games Tennis Campaign Without A Medal — Times Now
