India’s Quimcy Joaquim Dsouza moved within one win of a historic Asian Games medal after reaching the women’s singles semifinals in teqball at the Aichi-Nagoya Games on Friday.
She will face Indonesia’s Sumaya in the last-four clash on Saturday. Even if she loses the semifinal, she will have another opportunity to compete for bronze on Sunday. Quimcy received a direct passage to the semifinals after topping her group. A victory would guarantee Quimcy a podium finish and India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in teqball. Teqball is one of six sports making its Asian Games debut at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Quimcy also featured alongside Mohammed Anas Imran Beg in the mixed doubles competition. Quimcy’s journey to the Asian Games semifinals has been unconventional. She is a seven-time national champion and has reached a career-high world ranking of No.
Making her Asian Games debut, the 24-year-old defeated top seed Yuina Sakamoto of Japan 2-1 (10-12, 12-11, 13-11) in her opening Group A match at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center. She then beat Cambodia’s Koemyean Dy 2-0 (12-9, 12-7) to finish top of the group and secure her place in the semifinals. The Indian pair lost their quarterfinal against Vietnam’s Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen and Gia Nghi Trinh 0-2 (7-12, 10-12). However, Quimcy and Beg bounced back in the repechage round, defeating the Philippines’ Jhoana Abulencia and Prince Augustin 2-0 (12-3, 12-6) to remain in medal contention. The pair had earlier opened their Group A campaign with a 2-0 (12-10, 12-3) win over the Filipino duo. They subsequently suffered defeats against Cambodia and Thailand before securing a quarterfinal spot with a 2-0 (12-1, 12-6) victory over Salman Alebraheem and Hessah Alfailakawi. The Mumbai-born athlete began her sporting career in athletics before representing Maharashtra in Under-19 football. She took up teqball in 2022 and has since established herself among India’s leading players. 24. Quimcy also finished ninth at the 2026 World Championships in Romania.
With Quimcy now one win away from the podium, India’s focus will be on her women’s singles semifinal against Indonesia’s Sumaya on Saturday. Teqball is a sport that combines elements of football and table tennis. Players use different parts of their body, except their hands and arms, to return a standard size-five football across a curved table divided by a transparent plexiglass net. At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, teqball is making its debut alongside MMA, padel, surfing, BMX freestyle and virtual taekwondo.
The sport was invented in Hungary in 2014 by Gabor Borsanyi, Gyorgy Gattyan and Viktor Huszar. The first official Teqball World Championships were held in Budapest in 2017.
