Six sports, including teqball and virtual taekwondo, debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games
India began its Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games campaign on Thursday, September 17, 2026, with teqball — one of six sports making their first appearance at the Games in Japan. The new additions include padel, surfing, mixed martial arts (MMA), virtual taekwondo and Cycling BMX Freestyle, and they join athletes from 45 countries and regions competing across 43 sports.
Teqball, contested as a doubles match, combines elements of football and table tennis on a curved table; players are not permitted to use their arms or hands and may use feet, head and other body parts. India fielded Declan Marshall Gonsalves and Mohamed Anas Imran Beg in the teqball competition on Thursday. Coverage accompanying the event included a Getty Images photograph captioned with Boonkoom Tipwong of Thailand competing in the Men's Doubles Semifinal at the 2023 Teqball World Championship in Bangkok on December 03, 2023.
Padel enters the Asian Games programme as a doubles racket sport played on an enclosed court with reinforced glass and wire-mesh walls where players can return the ball after it rebounds off the walls. The sport traces its origin to Mexico in 1969 and, according to the source material, went on to gain popularity across the world, especially in Europe.
Surfing has been added with shortboard events for both men and women, with athletes performing manoeuvres on about 10-12 waves within a set time while standing on a board. Judging will assess the difficulty of the waves and creativity of manoeuvres, while speed, power and overall dynamism are also factored into scores.
Mixed Martial Arts will make its Asian Games debut alongside existing combat disciplines such as jiu-jitsu and kurash, with competitions for both men and women. The format combines striking, grappling, throwing and submission techniques, and victories can be decided by knockout, technical knockout, surrender or the judge’s decision.
Virtual taekwondo pairs traditional taekwondo techniques with virtual reality technology; competitors wear VR headsets that place them in a digital 3D arena and use motion trackers to control digital avatars in noncontact virtual matches. Cycling BMX Freestyle will also appear for the first time, with riders executing aerial manoeuvres and being judged on challenge, execution and originality, while crashes or putting a foot down will significantly affect scores.
All six disciplines are scheduled as part of the 20th Asian Games programme in Aichi-Nagoya, where they will be contested alongside the other events that make up the Games.
