Chetan Bhatt suffers heartbreak, loses Asian Games bronze medal on Senshu

Chetan Bhatt misses bronze after 1-1 draw, loses Kumite playoff to Chinese Taipei on Senshu (Reuters)

India's Chetan Bhatt suffered heartbreak at the Asian Games 2026 after losing the men's Kumite 84kg bronze medal playoff to Chinese Taipei's Meng-yu Chung on Tuesday.The bout at the Toyohashi Gymnasium ended 1-1 after regulation time, but Chung walked away with the bronze medal on the basis of Senshu, which is awarded to the athlete who scores the first point without conceding one beforehand.

Asian Games Full Coverage | Schedule | Medal TallyBoth karatekas managed one Yuko each during the contest, but Chung had struck first and that proved decisive when the scores remained level at the end. Under karate's Senshu rule, the athlete who scores the first uncontested point is declared the winner in a tied bout.Bhatt had reached the bronze medal playoff after a difficult semifinal against Jordan's Mohammad Aljafari. The Indian went down 0-8 to Aljafari, missing out on a place in the gold medal contest and having to settle for a shot at bronze.However, Bhatt could not convert that opportunity as Chung held his nerve in a closely fought playoff. The narrow defeat meant India missed out on another medal in karate at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.Elsewhere, India's Jay Meena picked up a notable win in soft tennis, defeating Pakistan's Arain Hussain in their Group D clash. Jay produced a dominant 4-0 victory, winning the four sets 4-2, 4-0, 4-2, 4-0.

India's Aadhya Tiwari, meanwhile, suffered a 1-4 defeat to Thailand's Alisha Ziegler in the women's singles competition.

Aadhya won the opening set 4-1 but Ziegler fought back to take the next four sets 4-0, 4-0, 2-4, 4-6.With only the group winners advancing to the quarterfinals, Aadhya's qualification hopes now depend on her result against Pakistan's Kainaat Shallwani and the outcome of Shallwani's match against Ziegler.India also suffered another setback in men's sepaktakraw. The Indian team lost 0-2 to Malaysia in their second Group B contest, going down 9-15, 12-15. The defeat leaves India's campaign hanging by a thread, with the Philippines their final group-stage opponent on Wednesday.India had earlier lost their opening Group B match 1-2 to Japan on Monday.