India’s women’s doubles campaign in tennis at the Asian Games came to an early end after Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale suffered a hard-fought first-round defeat against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva and Anna Danilina on Monday (September 28, 2026).

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The Indian pair lost 7-5 3-6 5-10 to the Kazakh duo in a contest that went down to the deciding match tie-break.

In men’s singles, India’s Sumit Nagal was locked at 3-2 in the opening set against South Korea’s Hong Seongchan when rain brought the match to a halt. The match will resume on Tuesday.

Nagal had lost both his singles to Korean players at the recent Davis Cup tie in Seoul.

India will face an inexperienced Afghanistan in their Asian Games opener on Monday (September 28, 2026), with the overwhelming favourites looking to quickly acclimatise to the unfamiliar conditions in Japan.

India would not know what to expect from the surface at the Korogi Sports Park which also staged the women’s competition won by Harmanpreet Kaur and Co.

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Though the women’s event was a high-scoring affair, the men’s games thus far have not seen big totals.

After the one-off game against Japan in Sano on September 22, when India were pushed to the limit by the hosts on a turning track, the Shreyas Iyer-led side has not had much to do.

India have utilised the time exploring the sights and sounds of Japan. The players reached Nagoya from Tokyo via the iconic bullet train and expectedly enjoyed the journey.

Being in a non-cricketing nation for the first time has also been a refreshing experience for the majority of the players. “It has been beautiful,” Iyer told the BCCI website on way to Nagoya.

It is to be noted that India have come here with a full strength squad unlike last time with Iyer himself part of the side alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel.

Considering the depth of Indian cricket in the shortest format, such a decision has been questioned by the experts when the focus should be on the 2027 ODI World Cup.

Anything less than a gold would be disappointing, especially factoring in the rocky start Iyer has had to ensure as captain post back-to-back titles in the T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan, who were hammered by India in Delhi recently, have come here with an inexperienced squad led by Darwish Rasooli. The selectors picked as many as six uncapped players for the tournament.

While India begin their tournament from the quarterfinals, Afghanistan have got a taste of the conditions and a surprising defeat at the hands of Nepal in the group stage. They played Japan in the tournament opener before going down against Nepal. The batting has been their achilles heal as usual.

Afghanistan must raise their game to stand a chance against India.

Unlike other athletes, Indian cricketers did not have issues checking into their accommodation, with the BCCI taking the matters in their own hands. The players are housed in a five star hotel in the heart of Nagoya.

A lot of eyes will be 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but he is unlikely to get a game with India having a settled combination in Abhishek and Sanju Samson. Three wins in three knock out matches will give India a back-to-back gold the Asian Games.

Opener Shafali Verma’s all-round brilliance and left-arm spinner Shree Charani’s devastating spell powered defending gold-medallists India into the Asian Games women’s cricket semifinals with a dominant eight-wicket win over an inexperienced Japan, in Nisshin on Friday (September 18, 2026).

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Charani (4/10) and Shafali (2/13) shared six wickets among them as India bowled out Japan for a paltry 57, and then chased down the target in just five overs to set up a clash with Bangladesh on September 20.

Shafali (40 not out, 15 balls) played the lead role in that pygmy-sized chase, along with Richa Ghosh (12, six balls).

However, Japan also had some moments to cheer as they managed to dismiss opener Gunalan Kamalini and one down batter Bharti Fulmali.

The ensuing celebrations proved Japan’s spirit despite defending an abysmally low target. But spirit alone could not help them thwart players in the class of Shafali and Ghosh, who took India home without much fuss.

The credit for restricting Japan to just-above 50 went largely to Indian spinners led by Charani.

Bowling by choice, Indians never gave the Japan batters any chance to free their arms, which was reflected in just three boundaries in the host team’s innings.

Japanese batters, who barely get to play top teams and for that matter even train regularly, could not find a way to force the pace throughout the innings.

In fact, they were even struggling to smack the ball past or over the ropes.

The Power Play yielded only 24 runs and the segment saw Japan batters hitting just two fours, and one of them was an edge through the slips.

But left-arm spinner Charani, who recorded her best figures in T20s, soon bagged the wickets of opener Haruna Iwasaki (10) and skipper Mai Yanagida off successive balls in the seventh over, continuing her recent red-hot form in this format.

In the back 10, spinner Shafali Verma (2/13) joined the list of wicket-takers as Japan slid further.

The off-spinner jettisoned Ayaka Kato-Stafford, the highest scorer for Japan with 25, and Shimako Kato in the 15th and 17th over as their attempt to go for big, aerial shots ended in the hands of Indian fielders.

The pitch here also offered pronounced turn and bounce, making the job of Japanese batters that much more difficult against a set of highly-skilled bowlers.

There were a couple of run-outs too, making matters all the more complicated for the home batters, who often struggled for proper coordination while running between the wickets.

Jyothi Surekha has been a picture of consistency since picking up the bow and arrow. With 93 medals to her name – including five from the Asian Games – the 29-year-old is now preparing to add to that tally at this year’s edition of the quadrennial event in Japan.

Surekha emerged on top at the selection trials held at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonipat, Haryana, while several prominent names, including Atanu Das, Ojas Pravin Deotale and Deepika Kumari, failed to qualify.

The compound archer began her World Cup run with gold in the women’s team event in Mexico but a rare off day saw a quarterfinal exit in Shanghai. She admitted that the quick turnaround between Stage 2 of the Archery World Cup and the trials in Sonipat, in addition to challenging conditions made preparation difficult.

“There was a lot of heat. There wasn’t much wind initially, but by the round-robin stage, which is very important, it became very windy,” she told The Hindu.

While pleased with her selection, Surekha is equally excited about guiding a young compound women’s team featuring 21-year-old Chikitha Taniparthi and 17-year-old Prithika Pradeep at the Asian Games.

“I’m just two months away from turning 30,” she reiterated, with a laugh.

“Even though I was happy to qualify, I was a little surprised too because some big names missed out, not just in compound women, but overall. But what’s done is done. The team has been selected, and now we have to work together and make sure things go well for us.”

There were barely any celebrations at home in Vijayawada. “Everything was normal at home. Maybe we’ll celebrate after winning the Asian Games.”

For now, Surekha’s immediate focus remains on Stages 3 and 4 of the Archery World Cup in Antalya and Madrid, respectively.