Asian Games 2026: India schedule with key events
India will send a contingent that includes P.V. Sindhu and Mirabai Chanu to the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, which run from September 19 to October 4. Competitive action began on September 10 and the main event will start after the opening ceremony on September 19.
Around 500 Indian athletes are expected to compete in the 20th edition of the Asian Games across 35 sports, with athletics supplying the largest Indian squad at 73 competitors. India will field teams in hockey, cricket, archery, kabaddi and badminton among other sports, and is defending both the men’s and women’s titles in cricket and kabaddi while the men’s hockey team enters as the defending champion.
Key early fixtures for India include the women’s cricket quarter-final versus Japan on September 18. On September 20 P.V. Sindhu will play in the women’s badminton team preliminary round and the Indian men’s hockey team will meet Indonesia in Hockey Pool A.
On September 23 Mirabai Chanu will compete in the women’s 49 KG weightlifting event, and Manu Bhaker is scheduled for the 10M air pistol individual team qualification the same day. Manu Bhaker will also contest the 10 M air pistol mixed team qualification on September 25, with medal rounds held on that day.
Manu Bhaker’s programme continues in the women’s 25 M pistol event across September 27 and September 28, with the precision stage on September 27 and the rapid stage and final on September 28.
The Indian men’s cricket team will play a quarter-final against the Group A runner-up on September 28. Aman Sehrawat will compete in the men’s freestyle 57 KG wrestling preliminary on October 2, with medal rounds scheduled for the same day.
India at the Asian Games 2026 will look to build on its record-breaking campaign at Hangzhou 2023, where it won 107 medals, including 28 gold. Shreyas Iyer will lead India’s title defence in the men’s T20 cricket while Harmanpreet Kaur is the T20 captain of the women’s team; javelin athlete Neeraj Chopra will miss the tournament due to an ankle injury.
India’s first scheduled match is the women’s cricket quarter-final against Japan on September 18, followed by the opening ceremony and the start of the main competition on September 19.
