India’s Bobby Kumar kicks the ball during the men’s team sepaktakraw match between India and Japan at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Gymnasium in Nagoya.
| Photo Credit: AFP
The Indian team went down fighting 0-2 to hosts Japan in the men’s quadrant semifinals to settle for a bronze medal in the Sepaktakraw competition of the Asian Games on Friday (October 2, 2026).
India lost the last-four match 12-15, 13-15.
The second set was more intense with the Indian team fighting hard but kept trailing Japan throughout, even narrowing the difference to 13-14 in the final stages.
India had earlier won each of their Group A matches to top the group defeating Laos (2-0), Vietnam (2-0) and Myanmar (2-1).
On the other hand, Japan had finished second in Group B, having started their campaign with a defeat to Indonesia 1-2. The hosts defeated Singapore and Korea to make the semifinals.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Women’s team was beaten 0-2 by Thailand in their Preliminary Group A contest.
Thailand won the first set 15-10 and were more dominating in the second, winning 15-4.
Published – October 02, 2026 02:07 pm IST
