Asian Games 2026 Day 1: Suraj Mayanglambam, Quimcy Dsouza among India’s medal hopefuls
India began competition at the Asian Games 2026 on Day 1, September 20, with several athletes scheduled to contest medal events at the start of the tournament.
Khel Now reported that India will have immediate medal involvement on Sunday, with medal events pencilled in across multiple sports and swimming a possible addition subject to qualification. The piece noted India achieved its best-ever Asiad medal haul three years ago in Hangzhou and said the country would compete for medals in as many as three events on Sunday. The article’s schedule also lists India contesting six medal events involving 11 athletes across Wushu, shooting, teqball and swimming.
Suraj Singh Mayanglambam is entered in the wushu men’s changquan final, the opening medal event for India on the day, and will face competitors from established wushu nations including China and Hong Kong, the report said.
Quimcy Dsouza is mentioned as a frontrunner for a podium finish in teqball after she stunned the top seed in the opening round; she will play Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto in the women’s singles bronze-medal match and is also scheduled to contest the mixed-doubles bronze alongside Mohammad Anas Abeg.
Shooting action will begin on Sunday with Elavenil Valarivan, Soman Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod in line to compete, and the trio aim to challenge for both individual and team medals, according to the article.
Team events and other individual disciplines also kick off: both the men’s and women’s hockey teams start pool-stage matches, the Indian women’s badminton team opens against Kazakhstan, and the Indian women’s cricket team meet Bangladesh in the semi-finals as they "will look to take another step closer to defending their gold medal," the report said.
The published schedule lists specific start times and participants: 5:30 am — Wushu: Suraj Singh Mayanglambam in Men’s Changquan Final; 6:30 am — Teqball: Quimcy Dsouza vs Yuina Sakamoto (Japan) in Women’s Singles Bronze Medal match; 7:00 am — Teqball: Quimcy Dsouza/Mohamed Anas Beg vs Hoang Minh Tan Nguyen/Gia Ngih Trinh (Vietnam) in Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal match; 11:00 am — Shooting: Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa K Vinod in Women’s 10m Air Rifle Individual Final (subject to qualification). The article also lists the six medal-event entries as: Suraj Singh Mayanglambam (Wushu), Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa K Vinod (Shooting), Quimcy Dsouza and Anas Beg (Teqball), Akash Mani, Rohit Benedicton, Akash Mani, Rishabh Das, Utkarsh Santosh Patil (Swimming).
Medal competition opens with the wushu men’s changquan final at 5:30 am, followed by teqball bronze matches at 6:30 am and 7:00 am and a scheduled shooting final at 11:00 am as India's Day 1 programme unfolds.
