Asian Games 2026 schedule, venues, sports and India’s entries revealed
The Asian Games 2026 will be held from September 19 to October 4, 2026, in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with competition in several disciplines starting before the opening ceremony and India’s campaign commencing in teqball on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
The tournament will gather athletes from 45 countries and regions across 43 sports in the 20th edition of the Games, marking the third time Japan has hosted the event following Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. The Games will take place across 54 competition venues in Japan, with the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium named as the main venue, according to Olympics.com. Organisers have added newer disciplines to the programme, including freestyle BMX, mixed martial arts, paddle surfing, teqball and virtual taekwondo. Seven sports — archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon — carry direct qualification quotas for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The full programme lists a wide range of sports scheduled for competition: climbing, squash, surfing, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, soft tennis, teqball, triathlon, volleyball, beach volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, esports, fencing, football, golf, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kabaddi, karate, modern pentathlon, padel, rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, sepak takraw, shooting, skateboarding, swimming, diving, artistic swimming, water polo, archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, softball, basketball, 3x3 basketball, boxing, breaking, canoe sprint, canoe slalom, jiu-jitsu, kurash, mixed martial arts, cricket, cycling track, cycling road, cycling mountain bike, cycling BMX racing, cycling BMX freestyle and equestrian.
India arrives in Aichi-Nagoya aiming to build on its Hangzhou 2023 haul of 107 medals, which included 28 gold. The Indian delegation will attempt to defend its men’s and women’s cricket titles and both kabaddi crowns, while the men’s hockey team enters the competition as the reigning champion. Hockey’s men’s and women’s tournaments will additionally serve as continental qualification events for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
In cricket, Shreyas Iyer has been named to lead India’s defence in the men’s T20 competition and the squad includes teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi; the Indian women’s team will be captained by T20 leader Harmanpreet Kaur. India can also secure Olympic quotas through performances in archery, sailing, squash, surfing and tennis. Defending javelin champion Neeraj Chopra has withdrawn from the Games because of an ankle injury.
India’s contingent will include five individual Olympic medallists: PV Sindhu in badminton, Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting, Manu Bhaker in shooting, Aman Sehrawat in wrestling and Lovlina Borgohain in boxing. The Indian boxing squad arrives after a Commonwealth Games campaign that produced 10 medals, including seven gold. Athletics will feature more than 70 Indian track and field athletes, with Gulveer Singh, Tejaswin Shankar and Olympian Sarvesh Kushare named among leading prospects.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor heads to Aichi-Nagoya as a two-time defending champion in the shot put. Squash player Anahat Singh returns after contributing to India’s women’s team bronze medal at Hangzhou 2023 and adding a mixed doubles bronze alongside Abhay Singh.
Live streaming of the Asian Games 2026 will be available on Sony LIV in India, with live telecasts on Sony Sports 1 and Sony Sports 5 and regional-language coverage on Sony Sports 3 (Hindi) and Sony Sports 4 (Tamil, Telugu and Kannada). India’s first scheduled competition is teqball on Thursday, September 17, 2026, two days before the opening ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya.
