Asian Games 2026: India blank Kazakhstan, set up quarterfinal against Japan in women’s badminton

India cruised past a lowly-ranked Kazakhstan 3-0 in the women’s team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Nagoya on Sunday (September 20, 2026), setting up a challenging quarterfinal against hosts Japan.

At the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, Indian stalwarts P.V. Sindhu, Unnati Hooda, and Tanvi Sharma completed a comfortable sweep without dropping a game.

Sindhu, ranked 11 th in the world, needed 24 minutes to beat Kamila Smagulova 21-7, 21-9 in the opening rubber. Kazakhstan's top woman shuttler Kamila's BWF world ranking is a lowly 426.

The world No. 24 Unnati then breezed past Alissa Kuleshova (WR 866) 21-7, 21-10 in 22 minutes, before the world No. 26 Tanvi Sharma sealed the tie even quicker, defeating Diana Namenova (WR 1067) 21-5, 21-10.