India failed to win a medal in tennis at the Asian Games 2026 for the first time in 40 years. Sumit Nagal’s quarter-final defeat to China’s Wu Yibing on Thursday ended the country's campaign in Nagoya. This result showed a sharp departure from India's recent record at the continental showpiece event.
India's tennis campaign at the Asian Games 2026 ended on a rare low as the country failed to win a medal in the sport for the first time in 40 years.
Sumit Nagal's 4-6, 4-6 quarter-final defeat to China's Wu Yibing on Thursday brought the curtains down on India's campaign in Nagoya. The 29-year-old, seeded seventh, had been the country's last remaining hope after India's doubles combinations and other singles entry had been eliminated.
Nagal's defeat, which came in one hour and 38 minutes, confirmed India's first medal-less Asian Games tennis campaign since 1986. India had won medals at every edition since 1990.
Asian Games 2026, October 1 Updates
The result marks a sharp departure from India's recent record at the continental showpiece. At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale won mixed doubles gold, while Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan took silver in men's doubles. India had also won at least one tennis gold at every Asian Games from 2002 through Hangzhou 2022.
NAGAL CARRIED SINGLES CHALLENGE
Nagal was the only Indian to progress deep into the men's singles draw. He began his campaign with a 6-4, 6-0 win over South Korea's Hong Seong-chan before defeating Uzbekistan's Sergey Fomin 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
His run, however, ended against third seed Wu. Nagal lost both sets 4-6, leaving India without a singles player in the medal rounds.
Dhakshineswar Suresh also made it through to the third round. He beat Indonesia's Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5, 7-6 before losing 3-6, 4-6 to sixth seed Chun-Hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei.
India did not have an entry in the women's singles draw. The final squad included only Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale among the women, with both selected for doubles events.
DOUBLES HOPES DISAPPEAR IN QUARTER-FINALS
India entered the men's doubles with two combinations, but both fell in the quarter-finals.
Yuki Bhambri and Dhakshineswar Suresh, the fifth seeds, lost 6-7(5), 3-6 to Chinese Taipei's Chenjui Ho and Yu-Hsiou Hsu.
N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar, the top seeds, suffered an even tighter defeat. After winning the opening set 7-6(4), they lost the second-set tie-break 6-7(7) before going down 8-10 in the deciding match tie-break against China's Jiang Fumin and Zhang Tianhui.
The women's doubles campaign ended in the opening round. Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale lost 7-5, 3-6, 5-10 to Kazakhstan's Anna Danilina and Yuliya Putintseva.
India's mixed doubles challenge also ended without a medal. N Sriram Balaji and Ankita Raina lost 4-6, 4-6 to Hong Kong's Eudice Chong and Kairan Thompson in the opening round.
Yuki Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale received a first-round bye before losing 3-6, 4-6 to Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh and Chun-Hsin Tseng in the second round.
The result leaves Indian tennis with an unwanted distinction in Nagoya: no medal from any of its events, ending a run of podium finishes at every Asian Games since 1990.