Who is Quimcy Dsouza? India's teqball star nears historic medal

Quimcy Dsouza is one win away from securing India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in teqball after the 24-year-old topped her group in the sport’s Games debut in Nagoya on Friday. She fought back to beat Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto 10-12, 12-11, 13-11 before defeating Cambodia’s Koemyean Dy 12-9, 12-7.

Quimcy will face Indonesia’s Sumaya in the women’s singles semi-final on Saturday, with victory guaranteeing her a historic podium finish. If she loses, she will still have a shot at bronze against the loser of the other semi-final between Myanmar’s Wai Khin Hin and Lebanon’s Kamar Dandal.

Her run has become even more significant after India’s other teqball campaign ended in the men’s doubles. Declan Marshall Gonsalves and Mohamed Anas Imran Beg lost both their Group B matches, going down 0-2 to Vietnam and South Korea, and were eliminated before the quarter-finals. Beg, however, remains in contention alongside Quimcy in the mixed doubles.

For someone now on the verge of an Asian Games medal, Quimcy’s route to the sport has been anything but conventional. A former football and athletics competitor, the Mumbai-born athlete only took up teqball in 2022 and has since grown into one of India’s leading players.

Quimcy began her sporting journey in athletics, representing Maharashtra before later playing Under-19 football for the state. Her transition to teqball came in 2022, but the move quickly developed into a serious competitive career.

She has since become a seven-time national champion and has also been involved with the Teqball Club of Bangalore, contributing to the growth of the sport in India. Alongside her sporting career, she works as a test engineer at Decathlon in Bengaluru.

That combination of competition and involvement in the sport’s development has made Quimcy one of the more recognisable faces of Indian teqball. Her progress has also come as the sport continues to establish itself on the international stage.BUILDING A NAME IN TEQBALL

Quimcy has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 24 and finished ninth at the 2026 World Championships in Romania. Her progress has come alongside a wider push by Indian teqball players to establish themselves internationally.

Gonsalves and Beg, who exited the Asian Games men’s doubles competition, arrived in Nagoya as World Championship medallists. They won India’s first-ever teqball medal, a bronze in men’s doubles, at the 2024 World Championships in Vietnam.

Now, with Gonsalves’ campaign over and Beg continuing in mixed doubles, the spotlight has shifted firmly towards Quimcy. A medal in Nagoya would not only be a personal breakthrough but also give India its first podium finish in a sport making its Asian Games debut.- EndsPublished By: Debodinna ChakrabortyPublished On: Sep 18, 2026 12:47 IST