Preview -Asian Games 2026 part 6 of 8
-The Racquet Sports

Here, we are looking at the Indian team in some of the key racquet sports — padel, tennis, table tennis, squash and badminton. Again, since I feel our chances in padel are low, I will focus on the other four.

🏸Badminton

This is an extremely popular sport, played by people of every age group — in courts, on grounds, and even over the house gate! It is justifiably one of India's favourite sports. Let us look at each of the seven events.

Men's Singles — We have Ayush and Lakshya representing India. Unfortunately, Lakshya is off form, while Ayush is climbing the rankings and has recorded some good victories over top-10 players, including a win against the Chinese top seed at the World Championships. I am not expecting a medal here.

Women's Singles — The tragedy and glory of Indian sports are both on display here. The ageing but brilliant Sindhu is still there — still relevant, still fighting. This brave heart remains India's highest-ranked player in this event. Can she get a medal? Possible, but difficult. The tragedy is that Sindhu is still India's highest-ranked women's player. Unnati Hooda, the other player in the team, represents the erratic but talented young blood that has simply not yet grown into the shoes of Saina and Sindhu. So, a medal looks unlikely.

Men's Doubles — Satwik and Chirag are the highest-ranked badminton players from India. They have been in decent form, despite Satwik's shoulder injuries, and have won two 750-level events this year. A medal is highly possible.

Women's Doubles — Gayatri and Treesa, after some fairly modest performances, won a bronze at the World Championships. A medal is possible here.

Mixed Doubles — This has always been a weak area for India. Dhruv and Tanisha are a good pair, but I feel they are still some distance away from medal contention in this highly competitive event.

Men's and Women's Team Events — In both these events, we have decent chances, with the men's team having the better prospects. I would say one or two medals are possible, with gold also within reach, though less likely.

🏓Table Tennis

There has been a huge upsurge in Indian table tennis. Manush and Manav, our men's doubles pair, are currently ranked third in the world. While I genuinely believe they are good enough to compete at the highest level, some doubts remain about how they will perform against the very best in a major event.

Sreeja and Diya — Diya and Yashwini are a top-10-ranked women's doubles pair — have an outside chance of winning a medal. So, one medal looks likely, with a second a possibility.

Medals in the other events look less likely, particularly as Diya and Manush may not be participating as a pair. I think that is a pity, as they were ranked eighth in the world. Manush is probably focusing on men's doubles, men's singles and the team event.

SQSquash

We did really well in squash at the 2022 edition, with a 2–1–2 medal haul. But with Saurav Ghosal, the mainstay of the team, having retired, can we do as well this time? Well, let us take it event by event.

Women's Singles — We have the current junior world champion here. Anahat has been blazing a trail this year. But in the women's event, we also have Malaysia's Sivasangari, one of the top women's squash players and the defending Asian Games champion. I do not feel Anahat is quite there yet, so a medal is possible, but gold is less likely.

Men's Singles — Malaysia's Ng would be seeded number one, having been ranked as high as 10th in the world fairly recently. But we have a great duo in Abhay Singh and Veer Chotrani. I feel both are good enough to challenge strongly here, so one or two medals are possible, including perhaps a gold.

Mixed Doubles — The pair to watch out for here is Jyotsna Chinappa and Veer Chotrani. A medal looks highly possible, though its colour may depend on Jyotsna's form. It is interesting to note that the 40-year-old Jyotsna would be making a record seventh appearance at the Asian Games — the most by any Indian sportsperson.

Men's and Women's Team Events — In the men's event, we are justifiably seeded first, and the team of Abhay, Velavan and Veer should be aiming for gold. In the women's event, we also have a good chance, but Malaysia will provide stiff competition.

🎾Tennis

This is a sport where we seem to be going backwards every year, with the retirement of the golden generation of doubles players. We still have a reasonable chance with a scratch pair of Dakshineshwar and Yuki, and also Anirudh and Sriram.

But one medal is all I expect. If the scratch pair combines well, perhaps a gold could be possible.

Taken together, the racquet sports offer India a realistic floor of around eight medals and a ceiling closer to thirteen — with squash, once again, doing the heavy lifting on gold. In the next post we will be looking at athletics, the big one itself, and the rest, which include weightlifting.