2026 Asian Games Badminton Recap: Champions, Medalists and the Stories from Aichi-Nagoya
The badminton competition at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya came to an end on September 29 with seven gold medals awarded across the team and individual events.
China finished as the most decorated badminton nation with two gold, three silver and three bronze medals. Indonesia also won two gold medals, while South Korea collected two golds. Thailand and Singapore added historic men’s singles achievements, and host Japan finished with two silver medals and one bronze.
But beyond the medal table, the 2026 Asian Games produced several stories that will be remembered for years — from Indonesia’s remarkable return after leaving the previous Games without a single badminton medal, to Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Loh Kean Yew making history for Thailand and Singapore.
- Indonesia’s badminton comeback
- Leo and Daniel bring the men’s doubles crown back to Indonesia
- Kunlavut Vitidsarn makes history for Thailand
- Loh Kean Yew creates a new Singapore record
- Yoo Tae-bin: the giant-killing run
- An Se-young makes Asian Games history
- South Korea also ends a long wait in women’s doubles
- Amri/Nita provide another Indonesian breakthrough
- China still leads the medal count
- India’s contrasting campaign
- The final medal table
- 2026 Asian Games badminton champions
- A tournament full of history
Indonesia’s badminton comeback
Three years after a disappointing campaign in Hangzhou, Indonesia returned to the Asian Games podium in emphatic fashion.
At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, held in 2023, Indonesia failed to win a single badminton medal for the first time in the country’s Asian Games history. None of its individual-event representatives reached the semifinals.
Aichi-Nagoya brought a very different story.
Indonesia finished with two gold, one silver and three bronze medals, highlighted by victories in the men’s team event and men’s doubles.
The men’s team title was particularly dramatic. Indonesia trailed China 0-2 in the final after Jonatan Christie lost to Shi Yuqi and Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri were beaten by Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang.
Then came the comeback.
Alwi Farhan defeated Li Shifeng in three games before Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin beat He Jiting and Liu Yi to level the tie at 2-2.
The deciding match was left to 19-year-old Zaki Ubaidillah. Facing Weng Hongyang, the teenager saved four game points in the opening game before winning 23-21, 21-13 to give Indonesia the gold.
It was Indonesia’s sixth men’s team gold at the Asian Games. The victory also ended China’s run of two consecutive men’s team titles.
For Ubaidillah, it was a breakthrough moment. For Indonesia, it was a powerful response after the medal-less campaign in Hangzhou.
Leo and Daniel bring the men’s doubles crown back to Indonesia
Indonesia’s second gold came in men’s doubles through Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin.
The victory was particularly significant because Indonesia had lost the men’s doubles title at the previous Asian Games. India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the gold in Hangzhou, giving India its first Asian Games badminton gold.
In Aichi-Nagoya, Leo/Daniel went all the way to reclaim the title for Indonesia.
Their route to the final included a straight-game semifinal victory over South Korea’s world No. 1 pair Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae, 21-11, 21-14.
They then completed Indonesia’s second gold-medal campaign of the Games in the final against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
The result also extended a remarkable historical drought for China in the Asian Games men’s doubles event. China’s last men’s doubles gold came in 1990, when Tian Bingyi and Li Yongbo won the title in Beijing.
China again reached the final in 2026, but the gold remained out of reach.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn makes history for Thailand
One of the most significant individual achievements came from Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Vitidsarn defeated Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in the semifinal to reach the men’s singles final, becoming the first Thai men’s singles player to reach an Asian Games final.
He then went one step further by winning the gold medal against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.
The victory gave Thailand its first men’s singles Asian Games gold medal and added another major achievement to Vitidsarn’s already remarkable career.
The Thai star had previously become the first Thai men’s singles player to win the World Championships and had reached world No. 1. He was also the men’s singles gold medallist at the 2025 Asian Championships.
His Asian Games victory therefore added another historic milestone to a career that has already included a World Championship title and Olympic silver.
Loh Kean Yew creates a new Singapore record
Even in defeat, Loh Kean Yew left Aichi-Nagoya with a piece of Singaporean badminton history.
Loh became the first Singaporean to reach an Asian Games badminton final.
His run was remarkable from the beginning. He defeated Lakshya Sen in the second round and then ended a long losing record against Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the quarterfinals.
Loh beat Christie 21-14, 21-19 — his first victory over the Indonesian in 11 meetings — to guarantee Singapore its first men’s singles badminton medal at the Asian Games.
He then defeated South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin 21-19, 19-21, 21-12 in the semifinal to reach the final.
Before Aichi-Nagoya, Singapore’s only badminton medal at the Asian Games had been the women’s team bronze won at the 2006 Doha Games.
Loh therefore became the country’s first men’s singles medallist and its first badminton singles finalist at the Games.
Yoo Tae-bin: the giant-killing run
If there was one surprise name in the men’s singles draw, it was South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin.
Ranked outside the world’s top 40, Yoo produced one of the most unexpected runs of the tournament.
He defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-yi before producing the biggest upset of his campaign against China’s former world No. 1 Shi Yuqi.
Yoo then defeated Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinals, coming back from a game down to win 12-21, 21-5, 21-11.
That victory guaranteed Yoo a medal and made him the centre of one of the tournament’s biggest breakthrough stories.
His run eventually ended against Loh Kean Yew in the semifinal, but Yoo finished with a bronze medal — a result that few would have expected before the tournament began.
An Se-young makes Asian Games history
South Korea’s An Se-young entered Aichi-Nagoya as the defending women’s singles champion.
She left Japan with an even bigger place in Asian Games history.
An defeated China’s Chen Yufei in the semifinal 21-5, 21-12 before meeting Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the final.
An then defeated Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-9 to successfully defend her title.
She became the first woman to win two Asian Games singles gold medals, having previously won the title in Hangzhou.
The achievement came just weeks after An won her second World Championships title in New Delhi. She also entered the Asian Games after winning the China Masters, her third consecutive title at the event.
Her 2026 season had therefore produced an extraordinary run of major titles.
South Korea also ends a long wait in women’s doubles
South Korea’s second gold came in women’s doubles through Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee.
The pair defeated China’s world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in a dramatic final, winning 26-28, 21-18, 21-18.
The opening game alone went to seven periods of deuce before China eventually took it 28-26. South Korea responded by winning the next two games to complete the comeback.
The victory gave South Korea its first Asian Games women’s doubles gold since the 2002 Busan Games, ending a 24-year wait.
It also continued the momentum of Baek and Lee after they defeated Liu and Tan in the 2026 World Championships final in August.
Amri/Nita provide another Indonesian breakthrough
Indonesia’s mixed doubles pair Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah were another major surprise.
They reached the final after defeating China’s world No. 1 pair Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in the semifinal.
Their run was particularly notable because it was Indonesia’s first mixed doubles Asian Games final appearance since Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir reached the final in 2014.
Amri and Nita eventually took silver after losing to China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin in the final.
For a pair that had not been among the main pre-tournament favourites, the silver medal represented one of Indonesia’s most unexpected successes of the tournament.
China still leads the medal count
China finished with eight badminton medals, the most of any nation:
- 2 gold
- 3 silver
- 3 bronze
Its gold medals came from the women’s team and mixed doubles, while China also collected silver in men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, plus three bronze medals.
The result showed China’s depth across the competition even though its men’s singles players struggled.
In fact, China failed to win a men’s singles medal for the first time in 52 years. Shi Yuqi lost to Yoo Tae-bin in the last 16, while defending champion Li Shifeng was eliminated in the second round. China had previously won a men’s singles medal at every Asian Games since its debut in the event in 1974.
That made the men’s singles result one of the biggest statistical surprises of Aichi-Nagoya.
India’s contrasting campaign
India entered Aichi-Nagoya as the defending men’s doubles champion and the reigning men’s team silver medallist from Hangzhou.
This time, however, India finished with just one badminton medal — men’s team bronze.
The men’s team reached the semifinals before losing 3-1 to China.
The biggest shock came in men’s doubles, where defending champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in the opening round.
India’s campaign therefore contrasted sharply with Hangzhou, where the country won three badminton medals, including its first-ever Asian Games badminton gold through Satwik and Chirag.
The final medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Indonesia | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | South Korea | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Thailand | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Japan | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Singapore | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Chinese Taipei | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | India | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Malaysia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 9 nations | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
2026 Asian Games badminton champions
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s singles | Kunlavut Vitidsarn 🇹🇭 | Loh Kean Yew 🇸🇬 | Yoo Tae-bin 🇰🇷 / Alwi Farhan 🇮🇩 |
| Women’s singles | An Se-young 🇰🇷 | Akane Yamaguchi 🇯🇵 | Chen Yufei 🇨🇳 / Wang Zhiyi 🇨🇳 |
| Men’s doubles | Leo Rolly Carnando / Daniel Marthin 🇮🇩 | Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang 🇨🇳 | Kim Won-ho / Seo Seung-jae 🇰🇷 / Fajar Alfian / Muhammad Shohibul Fikri 🇮🇩 |
| Women’s doubles | Baek Ha-na / Lee So-hee 🇰🇷 | Liu Shengshu / Tan Ning 🇨🇳 | Pearly Tan / Thinaah Muralitharan 🇲🇾 / Rin Uesaka / Kie Nakanishi 🇯🇵 |
| Mixed doubles | Jiang Zhenbang / Wei Yaxin 🇨🇳 | Amri Syahnawi / Nita Violina Marwah 🇮🇩 | Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping 🇨🇳 / Ye Hong-wei / Nicole Gonzales Chan 🇹🇼 |
| Men’s team | Indonesia 🇮🇩 | China 🇨🇳 | India 🇮🇳 / Thailand 🇹🇭 |
| Women’s team | China 🇨🇳 | Japan 🇯🇵 | Indonesia 🇮🇩 / South Korea 🇰🇷 |
A tournament full of history
The 2026 Asian Games badminton tournament was about much more than the seven gold medals.
For Indonesia, it was a return to the podium after the disappointment of Hangzhou, capped by two gold medals and a dramatic men’s team comeback from 0-2 down.
For Thailand, Vitidsarn added an Asian Games singles gold to his World Championships and Asian Championships titles.
For Singapore, Loh Kean Yew took the country into an Asian Games badminton final for the first time.
For South Korea, An Se-young became the first woman to win consecutive Asian Games singles titles, while Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee ended a 24-year wait for the women’s doubles crown.
And for China, the tournament offered both success and frustration: eight medals showed the depth of its programme, but the men’s singles podium remained out of reach and the men’s doubles gold drought that began after 1990 continued.
In the end, Aichi-Nagoya delivered a badminton tournament filled with comebacks, firsts, unexpected medalists and records — giving the 2026 Asian Games an ending worthy of the competition.
