India Prepares for Record-Breaking Performance at Asian Games 2026

India's Ambitious Goals for the Asian Games 2026

As the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 approach, India is gearing up to surpass its previous achievements at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The event will take place in Japan from September 19 to October 4, featuring athletes from 45 nations competing in 43 different sports.

India made history at Hangzhou 2023 by securing a total of 107 medals, which included 28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze. The nation is determined to improve upon this impressive tally in Aichi-Nagoya.

Despite the absence of Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra due to an ankle injury, India's delegation will include five individual Olympic medalists. Notable athletes such as two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu in badminton, Manu Bhaker in shooting, Lovlina Borgohain in boxing, Aman Sehrawat in wrestling, and Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting are expected to be key contenders for medals.

In cricket, the Indian men's team, led by captain Shreyas Iyer, will defend its T20 title, while the women's team, under Harmanpreet Kaur, aims to retain its championship as well.

Hockey will play a crucial role in the Games, with both men's and women's competitions serving as qualifiers for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The champions of these tournaments will secure direct entry into the Olympic Games.

Anahat Singh will return to the Asian Games after contributing to India's success in the women's team and mixed doubles events at Hangzhou 2023.

However, the Indian contingent has faced challenges, including the removal of wrestlers Mukul Dahiya and Deepanshu due to doping violations, and shooter Gaurav Kumar Masoori being replaced by Akash Bharadwaj for a similar reason. Additionally, the show jumping team was excluded for not meeting selection criteria set by the Sports Ministry.

In tennis, the government has made cuts to the team, leaving out top women's singles players Sahaja Yamalapalli, Vaishnavi Adkar, and Vaidehee Chaudhari. The women's cricket team also experienced a late change, with Jemimah Rodrigues ruled out due to a hamstring injury, replaced by Pratika Rawal.

With a strong lineup of Olympic medalists and defending champions, India is set to enter Aichi-Nagoya 2026 with high hopes of continuing its successful streak at the Asian Games and enhancing its medal count.

Indian Teams at the Asian Games 2026

Indian archery team at the Asian Games 2026:

Dhiraj Bommadevara (men's recurve, men's team), Neeraj Chauhan (men's recurve, men's team), Yashdeep Bhoge (men's recurve, men's team), Kirti Sharma (women's recurve, women's team), Kumkum Mohod (women's recurve, women's team), Ankita Bhakat (women's recurve, women's team), Sahil Jadhav (men's compound, men's team), Kushal Dalal (men's compound, men's team), Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru (men's compound, men's team), Jyothi Surekha Vennam (women's compound, women's team), Chikitha Taniparthi (women's compound, women's team), Prithika Pradeep (women's compound, women's team).

Indian athletics team at the Asian Games 2026:

Gurindervir Singh (men's 100m), Animesh Kujur (men's 100m, 200m, mixed 4x100m relay), Rajesh Ramesh (men's 400m, men's 4x400m relay), Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi (men's 400m, men's 4x400m relay), Krishan Kumar (men's 800m), Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalakath (men's 800m), Yoonus Shah (men's 1500m), Abhishek Pal (men's 5000m, 10000m), Gulveer Singh (men's 1500m, 5000m, 10000m), Sawan Barwal (men's marathon), Kartik Karkera (men's marathon), Tejas Shirse (men's 110m hurdles), Yashas Palaksha (men's 400m hurdles), Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan (men's 400m hurdles), Avinash Sable (men's 3000m steeplechase), Pranav Pramod Gurav (Mixed 4x100m relay), Mohammed Ashfaq (men's 4x400m relay), Dharmveer Choudhary (men's 4x400m relay), Jay Kumar (men's 4x400m relay, mixed 4x400m relay), Manu Thekkinalil Saji (men's 4x400m relay, mixed 4x400m relay), Aadarsh Ram Jothi Shankar (men's high jump), Sarvesh Kushare (men's high jump), Kuldeep Kumar (men's pole vault), Dev Meena (men's pole vault), Murali Sreeshankar (men's long jump), Shahnavaz Khan (men's long jump), Praveen Chithravel (men's triple jump), Karthik Unnikrishnan (men's triple jump), Karanveer Singh (men's shot put), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (men's shot put), Damneet Singh (men's hammer throw), Rohit Yadav (men's javelin throw), Thowfeeq Noushad (men's decathlon), Tejaswin Shankar (men's decathlon), Prachi Choudhary (women's 400m), Gowthami Jayaraman (women's 800m), Pooja (women's 800m, 1500m), Parul Chaudhary (women's 1500m, 5000m, 3000 steeplechase), Seema (women's 5000m, 10000m), Priyanka Goswami (women's marathon race walk), Manju Rani (women's marathon race walk), Jyothi Yarraji (women's 100m hurdles), Nandhini Kongan (women's 100m hurdles), Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland (women's 200m), Anu Raghavan (women's 400m hurdles), Vithya Ramraj (women's 400m hurdles), Ankita Dhyani (women's 3000m steeplechase), Tamanna (women's 4x100m relay, mixed 4x100m relay), Nithya Gandhe (women's 4x100m relay), Srabani Nanda (women's 4x100m relay), Abinaya Rajarajan (women's 4x100m relay), Sneha Sathyanarayana (women's 4x100m relay, mixed 4x100m relay), Sudeshna Shanuvalli (women's 4x100m relay), Rashdeep Kaur (women's 4x400m relay, mixed 4x400m relay), Ansa Babu (women's 4x400m relay, mixed 4x400m relay), Machettira Raju Poovamma (women's 4x400m relay), Kumari Saloni (women's 4x400m relay), Neeru Pathak (women's 4x400m relay), Pooja Singh (women's high jump), Supriya Sindigere Basavaraju (women's high jump), Baranica Elangovan (women's pole vault), Shaili Singh (women's long jump), Ancy Sojan Edappilly (women's long jump), Niharika Vashisht (women's triple jump), Manpreet Kaur (women's shot put), Krishna Jayasankar Menon (women's shot put), Seema Kaliramna (women's discus throw), Tanya Chaudhary (women's hammer throw), Anushka Yadav (women's hammer throw), Annu Rani (women's javelin throw), Pooja (women's heptathlon), Anamika Kozhinjaparambil Aneesh (women's heptathlon).