Indian shuttler HS Prannoy has publicly criticised the scheduling at the Asian Games 2026, highlighting a punishing timetable that forced young stars Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda to compete in two singles matches on the same day — Saturday, 26 September — with their second-round fixtures concluding just hours before their Round of 16 clashes later in the evening.

Prannoy's Sharp Criticism

Prannoy did not mince words, posting on X: 'This year's Asian Games schedule looks like a South zone championships schedule. Medal ceremony went till 11 pm for the team event and so many players had first match the next day. And now 2 singles matches scheduled on the same day. Just crazy.' The senior Indian shuttler's frustration reflects a broader concern about athlete welfare at multi-sport events where fixture congestion is a recurring problem.

Notably, this is not the first time scheduling at a major multi-sport tournament has drawn flak — similar complaints have surfaced at Commonwealth Games and previous Asian Games editions, yet the issue persists.

How Ayush and Unnati Navigated the Double-Header

Ayush Shetty, ranked World No. 20, was in dominant form against Kazakhstan's Makhsut Tajibullayev, dismissing him 21-7, 21-7 in just 21 minutes — a result that at least preserved his energy reserves for the evening's assignment. His next challenge is considerably stiffer: Chou Tien-Chen of Chinese Taipei, against whom Ayush trails 1-2 in head-to-head meetings.

Unnati Hooda, seeded 25th, had a far more taxing morning. Her second-round contest against Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching (World No. 38) stretched to 79 minutes across three games — 21-14, 20-22, 21-19. Unnati served up two match points at 20-18 in the decider; Wong saved the first, but a wayward cross-court shot on the next rally handed the Indian her passage to the last 16. The extended battle raises legitimate questions about whether Unnati can recover sufficiently before facing Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani — ranked World No. 6 — who defeated Unnati at the 2025 Hylo Open, their only previous encounter.

Lakshya Sen's Early Exit Compounds India's Woes

India's singles campaign has already absorbed a significant blow with the elimination of Lakshya Sen. The World No. 13 Indian lost to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew — a former world champion — 21-12, 15-21, 21-14 in a match lasting one hour and 10 minutes. Sen had initially surged to a 5-1 lead in the opening game, only for Loh to reel off ten consecutive points and seize control, closing it out 21-12. The Indian recovered to take the second game 21-15, but Loh's greater experience prevailed in the decider, ending Sen's campaign at the round-of-16 stage.

What This Means for India's Medal Hopes

With Sen out of the draw, India's men's singles hopes now rest squarely on Ayush, whose efficient second-round win at least leaves him in better physical shape than Unnati heading into the evening. The women's singles challenge for Unnati is formidable: Wardani is among the top seeds and a current top-10 player. The scheduling controversy, meanwhile, is unlikely to be resolved mid-tournament — the damage, at least for Saturday's double-header, is already done. Whether governing bodies take Prannoy's critique seriously ahead of future editions remains to be seen.