PV Sindhu’s third-round clash against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki began at a time when most of the other badminton players at the competition were already asleep on Saturday night.
The match started at 12:07 am on Sunday.
It was the second match of the day for both players.
The demanding schedule has left fans and shuttlers questioning the organisation of badminton at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. With the team events being held during the opening week of the Games and the individual competitions following immediately afterwards, organisers have faced criticism for failing to create a player-friendly schedule. Concerns over accommodation and the travel arrangements to and from Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium have added to the criticism.
Asian Games Day 7 Highlights | Results
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy, who returned home after being part of the Indian team that won bronze in the team event, described the organisation at the Asian Games as mediocre. He also said the absence of a Games Village had taken away much of the experience associated with competing at a major multi-sport event.
Prannoy was among the first players to raise concerns about the scheduling through a post on X.
Speaking to the Badminton Association of India on a YouTube programme later on Saturday, the Hangzhou bronze medallist strongly criticised the scheduling.
“A lot of people commented on my X post, saying other people are not complaining. I was about to reply saying I was not playing and I was just speaking for everybody out there, not just the Indian players," Prannoy said.
He recalled that after the team event ended, the medal ceremony itself took almost an hour and the Indian players did not leave the stadium until around 11:15 pm. The journey back to their hotel then took another hour.
“Because, I remember, when we finished the team event, the prize distribution took almost an hour, and it was 11:15 pm by the time we left the stadium. And it’s one hour from the stadium to our hotel. By the time we all got back, we did not have anything to eat over there like a meal. Obviously, there were snacks. You were there from 3 pm to 11 pm the day before and there is nothing around the stadium to go to and have a meal.
“All the players came back and then had a meal at 12:30 or 1 am. I remember Dhruv and Tanisha had their first match at 9 am. What if it was against a top seed or probably a higher seed? It would have been very taxing,” he said.
“I think it’s so unfair on a lot of players. I feel it’s cruel. Everybody is aiming for a good Asian Games. It comes once every four years. Just because of your problem, it shouldn’t be happening like this,” Prannoy added.
TWO MATCHES PER DAY?
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PV Sindhu defeated Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan in straight games in Round 3 (Courtesy: Screengrab from SonyLIV)
The badminton team events at the Asian Games were held from September 20 to 24, with the individual competitions beginning the next day, on September 25. The individual events are due to conclude on September 29, despite the Asian Games continuing until October 4.
Prannoy questioned why badminton had to be completed so early. He was particularly surprised that players and pairs were scheduled to play two matches on the same day in a sport where recovery is an important part of performance.
Singles players were scheduled to play two matches on Saturday, September 26, in an unusual development. It was an unprecedented situation, with both experts and players saying they could not recall the last occasion when singles players had been required to play two matches in a single day at a major multi-sport event.
“Definitely, having two singles matches in a day, I have not seen that in ages. I don’t know who is scheduling it. Obviously, the 29th is the last date for badminton. But the Asian Games go on till the 4th of October. We still have five more days. I don’t understand the whole issue of not extending it by a day.
“Nobody was told anything. It’s just sad,” he said.
“It’s sad that players can’t go back to the hotel and rest and come back. I am sure a lot of players would have stayed back. It takes two hours,” he added.
It was an inconsistent day for the Indian contingent. Lakshya Sen was eliminated in the second round of the men’s singles after losing to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. Ayush Shetty, who had opened his campaign with a victory over lower-ranked Kazakhstan player Makhsut Tajibullayev, was beaten by Chou Tien Chen in a gruelling three-game contest, which was also his second match of Saturday.
As mentioned earlier, Sindhu's second match of the day against higher-ranked Miyazaki was scheduled around midnight. Thankfully for India, the two-time Olympic medallist produced a comfortable performance and defeated the Japanese player 21-9, 21-13.
The scheduling became even more demanding with Sindhu's quarter-final against China's Chen Yufei, the world No. 4, scheduled for around 1 pm the following day on Court 4. That court did not have a broadcast feed despite one of the biggest names in badminton playing there.
The scheduling problems were not restricted to Indian players. Several established shuttlers from other nations, including Japan, also faced the consequences.
Thailand's mixed doubles pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran, ranked No. 5 in the world, lost to world No. 13 Yuta Watanabe and Maya Taguchi in a first-round match scheduled for 9 am. Prannoy revealed that Dechapol was still at the venue as late as 11:30 pm the previous night because of the team event medal ceremony.
The situation became even more demanding because Maya and Yuta themselves were scheduled to play their second-round match later that same day.
India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also spoke about the scheduling difficulties following their surprise first-round defeat. After dominating the team event, including defeating reigning world champions Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China, Satwik and Chirag were beaten by Thailand's world No. 36 pair Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul in a closely fought three-game match.
“I know these situations will happen. It will get tense because it will be tricky because we are playing continuously in the team event, and we were here last night till 12 o’clock, and right away we are playing one of the good matches. So it’s not going to be easy, but we prepared,” Satwik said on Friday.
'MEDIOCRE' ASIAN GAMES IN JAPAN
Prannoy was equally critical when discussing the accommodation arrangements and the absence of a traditional Games Village. For the first time at the Asian Games, accommodation has not been centralised. Athletes have instead been housed in hotels across Aichi-Nagoya, along with temporary containers installed on a cruise ship docked at the city's port.
“Never felt we were playing the Asian Games. It felt like we were playing the Japan Open. The whole fun and the whole point of multi-sport events is you get to meet the rest of the players. There is an opportunity to mingle with them. There is an opportunity to have a conversation with them. We only felt that when we went for the opening ceremony. We generally don’t go for the opening ceremony.
“It was literally sad to be in such a situation.
“In Hangzhou, in 2023, it was mind-blowing to see how China did it. It was probably my best experience. Then, in the next edition, in three or four years, you expect things to be better, but it just went downwards. A lot of them had difficult experiences in terms of accommodation and transport.
“It was a mediocre event, to be honest,” Prannoy said.
Despite the organisational concerns, Indian fans will continue to follow Sindhu and Unnati Hooda, who faces home favourite Akane Yamaguchi in Sunday's quarter-final. Unnati produced a notable upset on Saturday by defeating world No. 7 Putri Kusuma Wardani.
Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly have also continued their excellent run following their bronze medal at the World Championships. On Saturday, the Indian pair defeated Japan's world No. 3 duo Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in straight games. It was their second victory over the Japanese pair after also beating them during the women's team event earlier in the week.
Gayatri and Treesa will take on Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, the world No. 5 pair, in the women's doubles quarter-final on Sunday.
