Aadhya Tiwari Exits Asian Games Soft Tennis Despite Victory Over Pakistan
Aadhya Tiwari's Journey at the Asian Games
Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 22: Aadhya Tiwari of India concluded her participation in the women's singles soft tennis event at the 2026 Asian Games, despite a convincing 4-0 win against Pakistan's Kainaat Shallwani in her final Group D match on Tuesday.
Tiwari's scores against Shallwani were 4-2, 5-3, 4-1, and 5-3. However, this victory was insufficient for her to progress to the quarterfinals, as only the top player from each group advances.
Thailand's Alisha Ziegler had already secured the top position in the group after defeating both Tiwari and Shallwani. Consequently, Tiwari finished second in Group D, marking the end of her Asian Games journey.
She was the sole female soft tennis representative from India at this prestigious event.
Earlier, Tiwari and her partner Jay Meena were eliminated from the mixed doubles competition in the round of 16 on Monday, losing 2-5 to the Philippines' duo of Christy Sanosa and Sherwin Nuguit in a seven-set match.
The Indian pair had started strong, achieving 5-0 victories against Cambodia's Viva Chao and Chanroseka Khun, as well as Mongolia's Bud Nyamdorj and Enkhkhuslen Ganbaatar. However, they faced a setback with a 1-5 loss to South Korea in their final group match, which placed them second and allowed them to qualify for the knockout stage.
On Day 3 of the soft tennis events, Aryan Thakur triumphed over Mongolia's Bold-erdene Altangerel with a score of 4-0 in the men's singles Group C, while Jay Meena also secured a 4-0 victory against Pakistan's Hussain Arain in Group D.
India's performance in other sports on Tuesday yielded mixed results. In boxing, Sakshi Chaudhary advanced to the women's 51kg round of 16 with a unanimous 5-0 victory over Aira Villegas from the Philippines, a bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics.
In fencing, Taniksha Khatri won against Thailand's Natpapat Sangngio in the women's individual epee round of 16, moving on to the quarterfinals, while Mitva Chaudhari was defeated by Yang Jingwen.
The women's table tennis team from India triumphed over Thailand 3-2 in the round of 16, while the men's team faced a 0-3 defeat against the Republic of Korea in their opening match. The women's badminton team also lost 1-3 to Japan in the quarterfinals.
In shooting, Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished fourth in the 10m air rifle mixed team final after qualifying in second place. In men's skeet qualification, Anantjeet Singh Naruka ranked second, while Mairaj Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill placed 23rd and 35th, respectively. In the women's event, Raiza Dhillon finished fifth, Parinaaz Dhaliwal ninth, and Maheshwari Chauhan sixteenth.
India's men's kabaddi team achieved a significant victory over South Korea with a score of 63-31 in Group A, while the men's Regu sepaktakraw team lost 0-3 to Malaysia.
In swimming, the men's 4x100m medley relay team qualified for the finals after finishing seventh overall in the heats. Aryan Nehra secured fourth place in the men's 1500m freestyle final B.
In wushu, Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam finished ninth in the women's Nanquan final. Karateka Alisha Choudhary lost 1-6 to Indonesia's Cok Istri Agung Sanistyarani in the women's kumite - 55kg round of 16, while Chetan Bhatt was defeated in his men's 84kg kumite bronze medal match.