Nagoya, September 19: While much of India was asleep more than 3,000 miles away in the early hours of September 19, Quimcy Joaquim D'Souza was making history in Aichi-Nagoya, taking giant strides in Teqball as the sport made its Asian Games debut.
The Indian teqball athlete was on the cusp of entering the finals at the Asian Games 2026. However, she was not able to cross the threshold of the semis as she narrowly missed out on a ticket to the finals, losing her semifinal encounter against Indonesia's Ima Sumaya 2-1 (12-7, 9-12, 7-12).
She will now play the bronze medal match against home favourite Yuina Sakamoto, whom she defeated during the group stages. It will be a much-anticipated rematch between the two teqball athletes.
But who is Quimcy
D'Souza, who has blossomed on the canvas of the Asian Games?
Who is Quimcy Joaquim Dsouza?
A seven-time national teqball champion, Quimcy is a former football athlete who represented Maharashtra and took up the sport in 2022. Over the years, she has been a successful teqball athlete and attained a career-high world No. 24 ranking.
D'Souza's rise in Teqball has also been reflected on the international stage, with India finishing ninth at the 2026 World Championships in Romania. Her journey has been largely self-driven, as she developed her game and refined her skills without the support of a personal coach.
Away from competition, D'Souza balances her sporting career with her job as a test engineer at a sports goods retailer. She has also played a role in expanding the sport's reach by founding the Teqball Club of Bengaluru, providing a platform for aspiring players to train and develop their skills.
What is Teqball?
Teqball was among six sports introduced at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, joining MMA, Padel, Surfing, BMX Freestyle and Virtual Taekwondo on the continental multi-sport programme.
A sport that blends elements of football and table tennis, Teqball originated in Hungary in 2014. It was developed by Gabor Borsanyi, Gyorgy Gattyan and Viktor Huszar. The game is played with a size-five football on a specially designed curved table separated by a plexiglass divider. Players are allowed to use almost every part of their body to control and return the ball, with only the hands and arms prohibited.
D'Souza's breakthrough victory has helped bring greater attention to the sport in India. She followed up her opening-round upset by maintaining her momentum against Cambodia's Koemyean DY, recording a 2-0 victory with scores of 12-9, 12-7 in a 24-minute contest.
The win saw D'Souza finish at the top of her group and book her place in the semifinals. She was set to take on Indonesia's Sumaya on Saturday, with a victory guaranteeing India its first-ever Asian Games medal in Teqball.
Even if she fell short in the semifinal, D'Souza would still have had another opportunity to compete for a medal through the bronze-medal playoff.
