Shuttlers cry foul as late nights take toll on matches

By the Editorial Team · Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Top badminton players, including P.V. Sindhu and Jonatan Christie, have raised concerns about the grueling schedule at the 2026 Asian Games, citing late-night matches and insufficient recovery time as factors affecting their performance. The demanding timetable has led to physical and mental strain among athletes, with organizers yet to address the issue publicly, highlighting potential impacts on competition outcomes.

Several top badminton players have voiced concerns over the demanding schedule at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, citing late-night matches and minimal recovery time as major challenges affecting their performance.

Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu, a former world No. 1, highlighted the toll of playing three matches within an 18-hour span. Sindhu lost her quarter-final match to China’s Chen Yufei at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi, with scores of 21-11, 18-21, 10-21. The match followed a grueling schedule marked by earlier delays that pushed her prior contest against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki to nearly 1 a.m. local time. Sindhu did not return to her accommodation until around 3 a.m., before having to return to the court at 8:30 a.m. the same day for her quarter-final.

“Three matches in 18 hours. Back at 3 a.m., out again at 8:30 a.m. It took a toll,” Sindhu said. She added that despite the setback, she remains committed to improvement: “My team and I are already working on closing out those moments. We will fix it. I’m hurting, but that’s okay. I’m glad it still means enough to hurt this much.” Reflecting on her career, Sindhu noted that her journey from her first Asian Games in 2014 through to her fourth in 2026 is a testament to her dedication to India’s badminton.

Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie faced similar challenges. His third-round match against Sri Lanka’s Viren Nettasinghe did not start until nearly 1 a.m. and concluded close to 2 a.m., prompting Christie to question why the game was not reassigned to available courts that had completed matches earlier. Though he won the match, Christie said the late scheduling affected his focus and mood. He subsequently lost in the quarter-finals to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.

“This was not easy,” Christie remarked. “But honestly, my mood was affected because we played so late, to the point where it was already early morning. I was quite frustrated as to why the match was not moved to Courts 3 or 4, which had already finished earlier. It affected my focus as well.”

The issue extends beyond Sindhu and Christie. Several players in early tournament rounds have been required to compete twice in a single day. Notably, Malaysia’s mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Cheng Su Yin and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie have also contended with minimal turnaround time between matches, underscoring broader scheduling pressures faced by athletes at the Games.

Organizers have yet to respond publicly to these complaints, but the players’ remarks underscore the physical and mental challenges presented by the tournament’s condensed timetable and late-night match scheduling.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.