The 20th Asian Games are set to take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, with India preparing to compete across a wide range of sporting disciplines. The continental multi-sport event will see sporting action begin before the official opening ceremony, while India’s campaign is scheduled to get underway with teqball on September 17.
India will enter the Games looking to defend its titles in men’s and women’s cricket as well as kabaddi, while the Indian men’s hockey team will also seek to retain its Asian Games crown. The Indian contingent features several Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallists across different disciplines.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will headline India’s badminton challenge, with the badminton competition scheduled to begin on September 20. Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will lead India’s five-member weightlifting squad, while double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker will be among India’s leading shooters. Paris 2024 bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat will represent the country in wrestling.
India’s boxing contingent will also head into Aichi-Nagoya after a strong Commonwealth Games campaign, where Indian boxers won 10 medals, including seven gold and three silver. Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and Commonwealth Games champion Sakshi Chaudhary are among the Indian boxers listed to compete.
Athletics will be another major focus, with more than 70 Indian track and field athletes expected to compete between September 24 and 29.
Asian Games 2026: India’s Important Dates
India’s campaign begins with teqball from September 17 to 20. The Indian women’s cricket team is scheduled to face Japan in the quarter-finals on September 18.
Cricket
The women’s cricket quarter-final between India and Japan is scheduled for September 18. The women’s semi-finals are scheduled for September 20, followed by the bronze medal match/final on September 22, subject to qualification.
In men’s cricket, India are scheduled to play the Group A runner-up in the quarter-final on September 2. The men’s semi-finals are scheduled for October 1, while the bronze medal match/final will take place on October 3, subject to qualification.
Badminton
Badminton action is scheduled from September 20 to 29. The men’s and women’s team competitions will begin with preliminary rounds on September 20 and 21, followed by the quarter-finals on September 22 and semi-finals on September 23.
The men’s and women’s team finals are scheduled for September 24. Singles and doubles preliminary rounds will follow on September 25 and 26, with the quarter-finals on September 27, semi-finals on September 28 and finals on September 29.
Athletics
Athletics will run from September 24 to 29, featuring a packed schedule of track and field events. The opening day includes events such as the women’s heptathlon, men’s 100m, men’s triple jump qualification, men’s high jump qualification and the mixed 4x400m relay. The men’s 100m final is scheduled for September 25.
The schedule also includes the men’s and women’s 200m finals on September 27, the men’s and women’s 400m hurdles finals on September 28, and the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay finals on September 29.
Boxing
Boxing competition is scheduled to begin on September 21, with preliminary rounds continuing through September 28 across men’s and women’s weight categories. The semi-finals are scheduled for September 29 and 30, while the finals across the listed weight categories are scheduled for October 2.
Hockey
India’s men’s hockey team will begin its Pool A campaign against Indonesia on September 20. The men’s schedule also includes matches against Sri Lanka, Korea, Japan and Bangladesh.
India’s women’s team will face Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Japan and Singapore during the pool stage. The women’s semi-finals/classification matches are scheduled for September 30, followed by medal/classification matches on October 2. The men’s semi-finals/classification matches are scheduled for October 1, with medal/classification matches on October 3, subject to qualification.
Kabaddi
India’s men’s kabaddi team will begin its Group A campaign against Japan on September 21, followed by matches against the Republic of Korea, Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei.
The women’s team will face Bangladesh, Iran and Japan in Group A. The men’s and women’s semi-finals are scheduled for September 25, while both finals are scheduled for September 26, subject to qualification.
Shooting
Shooting is scheduled to begin on September 20 with the women’s 10m air rifle qualification and final. The men’s 10m air rifle competition is scheduled for September 21. The programme also includes 10m air pistol, skeet, 50m rifle 3 positions, trap and 25m rapid fire pistol events. The shooting schedule runs through October 1.
Weightlifting
Weightlifting is scheduled from September 23 to 29. India’s listed competitors include Rishikanta Singh in the men’s 60kg, Mirabai Chanu in the women’s 49kg, Gyaneshwari Yadav in the women’s 53kg, Seram Nirupama Devi in the women’s 61kg and Harjinder Kaur in the women’s 69kg.
Wrestling
Wrestling is scheduled from September 30 to October 3. The programme features Greco-Roman, men’s freestyle and women’s events, with preliminary and medal rounds taking place across the four days.
Asian Games 2026: Other key sports
The Games will also feature competitions in archery, artistic gymnastics, canoe/kayak, MMA, kurash, track cycling, equestrian, esports, fencing, golf, judo, karate, rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, sepaktakraw, soft tennis, sport climbing, squash, surfing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball and wushu.
Archery is scheduled from September 26 to October 3, while artistic gymnastics begins on September 22. Swimming is scheduled to begin on September 20, and table tennis will run from September 20 to 28.
