Indian tennis contingent to return without medal from Asiad for first time in 40 years

Indian tennis touched a new low on Thursday (October 1, 2026) as the country’s contingent returns empty-handed from the Asian Games for the first time since 1986, following the quarterfinal exit of Sumit Nagal in the men’s singles, bringing the curtains down on India’s campaign.

After the exit of medal hopeful doubles pairs on Wednesday (September 30, 2026), India needed its number one singles player, Nagal, to keep the country in the medal hunt, but he went down fighting 4-6 4-6 to China’s Yibing Wu in one hour and 38 minutes.

In every single edition since 1990, India has won medals at the continental showpiece and this time too, at least three medals were expected.

After the recent heartbreaking Davis Cup defeat to South Korea in Seoul in the Qualifiers Round two, a medal-winning show in Japan would have given the tennis fans some solace.