Asian Games 2026: Rishabh Das Finishes Sixth as Teqball Campaign Ends

Rishabh Das Asian Games 2026 Run Ends With Sixth Place

Indian swimmer Rishabh Das finished sixth in the men’s 100m backstroke final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, clocking 54.77 seconds. He improved on his heats timing of 54.85 seconds but could not break into the medal positions.

China’s Olympic medallist Xu Jiayu won the gold medal in a Games-record time of 51.98 seconds. Japan’s Hidekazu Takehara finished second in 53.93 seconds, while South Korea’s Lee Juho claimed bronze in 53.94 seconds.

Das had entered the final after finishing fifth overall in the heats. His 54.85-second effort placed him third in Heat 3 and secured his place among the eight finalists.

The sixth-place result means India’s wait for an Asian Games swimming medal continues. The country’s most recent swimming medal at the continental Games came in 2014. However, Das still has opportunities to compete in Aichi-Nagoya, with the men’s 50m backstroke and 4x100m medley relay still ahead.

Rishabh Das Asian Games 2026 Campaign Continues

Although Das could not challenge for a medal in the 100m backstroke, his improvement from the heats to the final provided a positive element to his campaign.

His 54.77-second final timing was 0.08 seconds faster than his qualifying performance. The result also placed him ahead of several experienced swimmers in a competitive Asian field.

India had another swimmer, Utkarsh Patil, in the heats. Patil clocked 56.19 seconds, finishing 12th overall and narrowly missing the final.

India’s Teqball Campaign Ends Without Medal

India’s teqball campaign also came to an end without a medal as Quimcy Dsouza and Mohamed Anas Imran Beg lost their respective bronze-medal matches.

Dsouza first faced Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto in the women’s singles bronze-medal playoff. Sakamoto won the closely contested match 12-11, 12-11, denying Dsouza a podium finish.

Dsouza then returned alongside Beg for the mixed doubles bronze-medal match. The Indian pair lost 9-12, 6-12 to Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Minh Tan and Trinh Gia Nghi.

The two fourth-place finishes brought India’s medal hopes in teqball to an end at the sport’s Asian Games debut. Thailand emerged as the leading nation in the discipline, winning three of the five gold medals available.

For Dsouza, the campaign included a notable run to the singles semifinals. She had earlier defeated Sakamoto in the group stage before eventually losing to Indonesia’s Sumaya in the last four.

With swimming and teqball producing contrasting results, India’s campaign in Aichi-Nagoya continues across several sports. For Das, the focus now shifts to his remaining events as he looks to make another push in the pool.