India will begin its Asian Games 2026 campaign before the official opening ceremony, with athletes set to compete across a wide range of disciplines at the Aichi-Nagoya Games in Japan.

The continental multi-sport event will be held from September 19 to October 4, although competition is scheduled to begin on September 10. India’s first listed event is teqball from September 17, followed by the Indian women’s cricket team’s quarter-final against Japan on September 18.

India To Defend Cricket, Kabaddi And Hockey Titles

India will enter the Games as defending champions in men’s and women’s cricket as well as men’s and women’s kabaddi. The Indian men’s hockey team will also begin the tournament as defending champions.

The women’s cricket team will face Japan in the quarter-finals on September 18. Subject to qualification, the semi-finals will be held on September 20, followed by the bronze medal match and final on September 22.

India’s men’s cricket team will begin its campaign against the Group A runners-up in the quarter-finals on September 28. The semi-finals are scheduled for October 1, with the medal matches to be played on October 3.

The Indian men’s hockey team will open its Pool A campaign against Indonesia on September 20. Its other group-stage matches are against Sri Lanka on September 22, Korea on September 24, Japan on September 26 and Bangladesh on September 28.

India’s women will begin their Pool B campaign against Uzbekistan on September 20 before facing Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Singapore. The women’s semi-finals and classification matches are scheduled for September 30, with medal matches on October 2. The men’s semi-finals are set for October 1 and the medal matches for October 3.

Kabaddi competition will run from September 21 to 26. The men’s team will face Japan, Republic of Korea, Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei in Group A, while the women’s side will take on Bangladesh, Iran and Japan.

Both the men’s and women’s kabaddi semi-finals are scheduled for September 25, with the finals to be played the following day.

Sindhu, Mirabai And Manu Lead Individual Challenges

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will headline India’s badminton contingent, with the competition scheduled to begin at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on September 20.

The team events will run until September 24, followed by the individual competitions from September 25. The men’s and women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles medal matches are scheduled for September 29.

Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will lead India’s five-member weightlifting squad, which will compete between September 23 and 29.

The Indian squad includes Rishikanta Singh in the men’s 60kg category, Mirabai Chanu in women’s 49kg, Gyaneshwari Yadav in women’s 53kg, Seram Nirupama Devi in women’s 61kg and Harjinder Kaur in women’s 69kg.

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker will be among India’s leading shooters. Shooting competition will begin on September 20 with women’s 10m air rifle events and conclude on October 1 with the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol competition.

India’s wrestling challenge will include Paris 2024 bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat. Wrestling will be held from September 30 to October 3, featuring Greco-Roman, freestyle and women’s events.

Boxing And Athletics Among Major Medal Opportunities

India’s boxers will arrive at the Asian Games after a record-breaking Commonwealth Games campaign in which they won 10 medals, including seven gold and three silver.

Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and Commonwealth Games champion Sakshi Chaudhary are among the Indian boxers set to compete in Aichi-Nagoya.

Boxing action will begin on September 21 and conclude with the finals across all listed weight categories on October 2.

Athletics will be another major focus for India, with more than 70 Indian track and field athletes expected to compete between September 24 and 29.

The athletics programme will feature the men’s and women’s 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events, marathon races, hurdles, relays and middle- and long-distance competitions, along with jumps and throwing events.

The women’s 10,000m final and mixed 4x400m relay final will be held on September 24. The men’s 100m final is scheduled for September 25, while the men’s and women’s marathon events are set for September 26 and September 27 respectively.

The men’s javelin final is scheduled for September 28, with the final day of athletics on September 29 featuring, among other events, the men’s and women’s 800m finals and the 4x400m relay medal races.

India To Compete Across A Wide Sporting Programme

India’s campaign will span several other disciplines, including archery, gymnastics, canoeing and kayaking, MMA, kurash, cycling, equestrian, esports, fencing, golf, judo, karate, rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, sepaktakraw, soft tennis, sport climbing, squash, surfing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball and wushu.

Archery will be held from September 26 to October 3, with recurve and compound events. Gymnastics competition for the listed Indian events will run from September 22 to 24.

Canoeing and kayaking events will be held from September 23 to 26, followed by slalom events from September 29 to October 2.

Teqball, where India’s campaign is scheduled to begin, will take place from September 17 to 20 and include men’s doubles, women’s singles and mixed doubles.

Table tennis competition will begin on September 20 with the men’s and women’s team group stages. Individual and doubles events will continue until September 28.

Tennis will run from September 27 to October 3, while squash competition is scheduled from September 23 to October 2.

Rowing events will be held from September 20 to 24, while golf will take place from September 30 to October 3.

India’s volleyball campaign will begin with the men’s Pool C matches on September 27 and continue through the medal and classification matches on October 3, subject to qualification.

Early Competitions Begin Before Opening Ceremony

Although the official Asian Games opening ceremony is scheduled for September 19, sporting competition will begin earlier, with events starting on September 10.

India will enter competition from September 17, beginning with teqball, before the women’s cricket team takes the field against Japan on September 18.

Soft tennis will also begin on September 18, while several major competitions, including badminton, shooting, hockey, kabaddi, rowing, swimming, table tennis and wushu, are scheduled to begin on September 20.

With Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallists spread across its contingent, India will look to build on its performances from previous Asian Games editions while defending titles in cricket, kabaddi and men’s hockey.

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will conclude on October 4 after more than three weeks of competition across the continental sporting calendar.

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