Badminton Asian Games draw: India men, women potentially face Japan in QF

India's men's badminton team, the reigning silver medallists, face Bangladesh in their opening match at the Asian Games. To advance to the quarterfinals, Lakshya Sen must defeat Kodai Naraoka, while Ayush needs to beat Yushi Tanaka. If India must proceed, they could potentially clash with Japan. It's a race for Satwik-Chirag against Hoki-Kobayashi in the men's doubles.

The Indian women's team will start against Kazakhstan, with the possibility of facing Japan's second seed, Akane Yamaguchi, right from the beginning. Unnati Hooda will need to outplay Tomoka Miyazaki and PV Sindhu will have to battle against PV Sindhu, themselves. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be tested against Japan's top pair in the home court.

If the women's team needs to reach the quarterfinals, they could potentially face Japan again. Japan could also pose a tough challenge for the women. An Se-young and Baek Ha Na, along with Lee So-hee, form a formidable Japanese team for the women's doubles in the home quarterfinals.

India's only women's team medal at the Asian Games came in 2014 at Incheon, with Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Ashwini Ponappa-Sikki Reddy. They defeated Thailand 3-2 in a thrilling contest, but lost 1-3 to Korea in the semis.