India's Taekwondo Campaign Ends Without a Medal at Asian Games 2026

Toyohashi: India’s wait for another Asian Games taekwondo medal will stretch on after the country’s three-woman contingent returned empty-handed from Aichi-Nagoya 2026, with the competition concluding at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Japan on Saturday.

Kashish Malik, Jyoti Yadav and Rupa Bayor were India’s representatives across four medal events, but none could progress far enough to challenge for a podium finish. India’s last Asian Games taekwondo medal remains Surendra Bhandari’s bronze from Busan in 2002.

Kashish provided India’s deepest run of the Games, reaching the quarterfinals of the mixed individual virtual taekwondo event, which made its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya.

She began with a 2-0 victory over Hong Kong China’s Siu Wai Lam, winning the two rounds 800-500 and 400-0. Her campaign ended in the quarterfinals against Kazakhstan’s Rita Bakisheva, who eventually claimed bronze.

Kashish won the opening round 320-0 after Bakisheva took a 320-0 lead in the first round, but the Kazakh responded by taking the next two rounds 460-0 and 340-0 to seal a 2-1 victory.

The Indian had earlier also featured in the women’s -57kg competition, where she faced one of the strongest names in the draw. Paris 2024 Olympic champion Kim Yu-jin of the Republic of Korea defeated Kashish 2-0 (18-3, 17-2). IANS