An impressive performance by the Indian men's badminton team as they thrashed Bangladesh 3-0 in pre-quarterfinal at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Monday.

Lakshya Sen, world No 14, was the first to give the Indians an edge as he saw off Ayman Ibn Jaman 21-4, 21-12 in the first singles rubber.

Similarly, ranked 20th, Ayush Shetty was too strong for Gourab Singha and beat the latter 21-4, 21-13 in straight sets to give India a 2-0 lead.

None of the three singles players representing Bangladesh were placed among the world's top 100.

Consequently, India advanced without sending the likes of doubles pairs Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, world No. 5, the reigning Asian Games men's doubles gold medallists.

3 Indian men, who won the silver medal in the team event at Hangzhou 2023, will take on the hosts and fourth seeds Japan in quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Men's singles silver medallist at the BWF World Championships last month, Kodai Naraoka is the leading contender for Japan.

The country also has No 18 Yushi Tanaka, winner of Swiss Open 2026, and former world champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, ranked ninth in men's doubles.

A win over Japan will guarantee India the bronze medal and, if they do win, India will be on the podium in the men's team event for the second successive time.

India defeated the Republic of Korea 3-2 in the semi-final at Hangzhou 2023 and then took the silver medal after losing to the People's Republic of China in the gold-medal match.

The Indian women's team will also have a clash with Japan in the quarter-finals on Tuesday after the former defeated Kazakhstan 3-0 in its opening tie on Sunday.

Written by

Tanu