Asian Games 2026: India set to begin competition in Aichi-Nagoya on September 20

India's 501-athlete contingent begins competition at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday, September 20, following the opening ceremony on Saturday, September 19. After winning 106 medals at the 19th edition in Hangzhou 2022, India will be aiming to improve on that return in the 20th edition.

A colourful opening ceremony took place on Saturday, September 19, at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium, where India’s 501 athletes waved the tricolour. Spectators inside the packed stadium and viewers on social media voiced their support for the contingent. The action starts on Sunday, September 20, with India entered across multiple sports including wushu, badminton, shooting, table tennis, hockey and cricket.

Medal chances are already present on the opening day, with shooting and wushu singled out as two of the principal opportunities for India to reach the podium. Teqball and swimming also feature events that could yield medals on September 20.

India’s schedule begins as early as 5:30 AM IST with the rowing squad in action across men’s single sculls, double sculls heats and quarter-finals, men’s pair and women’s four. These rowing events open the Indian competitive programme for the Games.

Table tennis has two Indian fixtures on Sunday, with the women’s team group-stage matches set for 9:00 AM and 3:30 PM IST. The Indian women’s cricket team will begin its campaign against Bangladesh at 10:30 AM IST.

Several named athletes are among those scheduled to compete: 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).

India could compete in four medal events on September 20: Wushu – Men’s Changquan Final, Shooting – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Final, Teqball – women’s singles & mixed doubles bronze matches, and potentially swimming – men’s 100m Freestyle & Men’s 100m Backstroke.

India could potentially win 11 medals on the opening day of the Asian Games, with several athletes entered across those four medal events; the Indian women’s cricket team faces Bangladesh at 10:30 AM IST on Sunday, September 20.