Lakshya Sen and P.V. Sindhu face a stern test after being handed challenging draws, while defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got a relatively favourable route to the semifinals as the focus shifts to the individual competitions following the team championship, beginning on Friday.

India managed to secure back-to-back medals at the Asian Games after the men’s team signed off with a bronze following a silver in the last edition at Hangzhou, China.

Lakshya, who received a first-round bye, will open his campaign against former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the second round. Things will not get any easier as the 25-year-old from Almora could then face world No. 1 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the quarterfinals if he surpasses Loh.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, like Lakshya, will begin in the second round after receiving a bye. She could face Japan’s seventh seed Tomoka Miyazaki in the round of 16 and Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China in the quarterfinals if she can continue a winning run.

-PTI

Jay Meena secured India’s first-ever soft tennis medal at the Asian Games, fetching a bronze after losing to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka in the men’s singles semifinals in Nagoya on Wednesday (September 23, 2026).