Asian Games: Two matches in one day, Prannoy calls schedule madness
H.S. Prannoy criticised the Asian Games schedule after Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda were made to play two matches in one day.
Indian badminton player H.S. Prannoy has expressed anger over the match schedule at the 2026 Asian Games, saying players are not getting proper rest time between their first and second matches.
Prannoy's comment came after young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda both had to play two matches on the same day on Saturday. Both their second matches ended just a few hours before their round of 16 matches in the evening. According to Prannoy, playing a second match back to back in such little time becomes physically and mentally difficult for a player. He said that in tournaments of this scale, players should get proper time for recovery and preparation for the next match, or it could affect performance.
Posting on his social media account X, Prannoy wrote that this year's Asian Games schedule looks like a South Zone Championship. He said the team medal ceremony went on till 11 pm, after which several players had their next match the very next day, and now two matches have been scheduled on the same day. He called it outright madness.
The matter came up after both Ayush and Unnati reached the round of 16 and had to take the court again in the evening for their next singles match. Ayush beat Kazakhstan's Maksut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-7, while Unnati beat Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching 21-14, 20-22, 21-19. Unnati took 79 minutes to secure this win.
Both players' matches were in the morning session, so they had to take the court again directly in Saturday evening's session. This means both star shuttlers had to recover before their pre-quarterfinal matches.
In the first match, world number 20 Ayush maintained his dominance against Tajibullayev, giving the Kazakh shuttler no chance and winning in straight sets. Ayush's next match will be against Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen.
Unnati, meanwhile, had to fight a tough contest against world number 38 Wong. Unnati won the first set 21-14, but Wong came back to take the second set 22-20. However, Unnati won the third set to take the match.
