India's Double Boost At Asian Games: Sumit Nagal Advances, Deepu Mallesh Breaks New Ground
India's Sumit Nagal continued his progress in the men's singles competition at the Asian Games 2026, defeating Uzbekistan's Sergey Fomin in straight sets to enter the quarterfinals.
India's Sumit Nagal continued his progress in the men's singles competition at the Asian Games 2026, defeating Uzbekistan's Sergey Fomin in straight sets to enter the quarterfinals, while Dhakshineswar Suresh's campaign came to an end after a third-round defeat on Wednesday. Seventh-seeded Nagal produced a controlled display against Fomin, securing a 6-3, 6-2 victory to book his place in the last eight. The Indian, ranked 249th in the world, maintained his composure throughout the contest and converted his opportunities to close out the match without being pushed into a deciding set.
Nagal will face a significantly tougher challenge in the quarterfinals when he takes on third seed Wu Yibing of China. The Chinese player, ranked 111th in the world, has previously defeated Nagal in their only meeting.
Nagal had entered the third round after overcoming South Korea's Seongchan Hong 6-4, 6-0 in the second round. Their match had been interrupted by weather on Monday, with Nagal leading 3-2 in the opening set, before play resumed on Tuesday.
Hong initially took control after the restart, winning the first eight points and moving 4-3 ahead. Nagal, however, responded strongly and won nine consecutive games to take command of the contest and complete a straight-set victory.
The Indian had earlier lost to Hong in the qualifying competition at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. He had also endured a difficult Davis Cup outing against South Korea before the Asian Games, suffering defeats against Hyeon Chung and Soonwoo Kwon.
Meanwhile, Dhakshineswar, who had advanced to the third round after beating Indonesia's Gunawan Trismuwantara in straight sets, was unable to overcome sixth seed Chun-Hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei.
The Indian lost 3-6, 4-6, bringing his men's singles campaign to a close.
Dhakshineswar had secured a hard-fought victory over Gunawan in the second round, winning 7-5, 7-6 (2), in what was his Asian Games debut.
Deepu Mallesh enters quarters of Asiad speed climbing event
India's Deepu Mallesh entered the quarterfinals of the men's speed climbing competition of the Asian Games after finishing 11th in the qualification rounds.
The 28-year-old Mallesh, who is making his Asian Games debut, clocked a best time of 5.09s, which came during his climb up lane B of the four-lane 15-metre wall.
The 16 fastest climbers make up the four sets of quarterfinals, each of them featuring four climbers in as many lanes.
The fastest eight from this stage move to the semifinals, at the end of which four will be left to fight for the medals in the final.
Earlier, the 19-year-old Joga Purty made the women's speed climbing quarterfinals with a ninth-place finish in the qualification rounds.
However, she had a false start in the quarterfinal and failed to advance in the competition. Deng Lijuan of China and Karin Hayashi qualified from the quarterfinal round 1 heat.
The sport has been a part of the Asian Games only since 2018 and became an Olympic event in the Tokyo 2020 edition.
India has never won a sport climbing medal in the Asian Games.Â
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