20th Asian Games officially open today

By Pramod Joshi, Nagoya, Sept. 19: The 20th Asian Games officially commence today in Japan’s Aichi-Nagoya region under the unifying motto "Imagine One Asia".

While the continental multi-sport showcase is widely celebrated for its broad participation, the Aichi-Nagoya Asiad has surpassed the recent Paris Olympics in sheer scale, featuring 43 sports across 71 disciplines compared to Paris's 32 sports.

Alongside standard Olympic events, the programme introduces mixed martial arts (MMA), alongside debuts for padel, teqball, surfing, virtual taekwondo, and freestyle BMX.

China remains the firm favourite to top the medal table, while a competitive battle for second place is anticipated between Japan and South Korea.

With an aim of winning two-digit medal, 135 athletes from Nepal are competing across 21 sports.

The squad was trimmed by two following the withdrawal of a lone dancesport competitor and a wushu athlete sidelined by illness.

Unlike previous edition of Asian Games, where preparations often began only months in advance,

Nepali athletes have maintained a three-year special training under Mission 2026.

Two months before the Games, National Sports Council supplemented the special training by intensive closed training. Several squads underwent overseas training camps, including men's and women's kabaddi (India), swimming (India, Thailand), wrestling and boxing, tennis (India), table tennis (Thailand, Korea), skating (Thailand), karate and rafting (Japan, Thailand), taekwondo (Korea, Indonesia), wushu (China), and golf (USA, India, Thailand).

Nepal has a long history at the Asian Games, having participated in the inaugural edition when the event comprised just 11 nations, and has missed only the second Asiad.

Though performance levels have historically lagged behind continental powerhouses, Nepal has maintained an unbroken medal streak since the 1986 Seoul Asiad. Despite securing 26 medals overall, comprising 3 silvers and 23 bronzes, a gold medal has remained elusive. The nation's highest-ever finishes are silver medals won by taekwondo player Sabita Rajbhandari at the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, a paragliding team at the 18th Asian Games, and karateka Erika Gurung at the previous edition in Hangzhou.

Taekwondo leads Nepal's historical medal tally with one silver and 13 bronzes, followed by boxing (seven bronzes), karate (one silver, two bronzes), paragliding (one silver), and kabaddi (one bronze). Expectations for the current campaign rest heavily on individual sports like karate, wushu, boxing, and cricket.

Nepal’s flag during the opening ceremony march past will be carried by boxer Chandra Bahadur Thapa and kabaddi player Manmati Bista, as announced by the National Sports Council via social media.

Thapa is a historic bronze medallist from the IBA Men's World Boxing Championships in Dubai, while Bista captained the Nepali women's kabaddi team to a historic bronze at the 19th Asian Games. Member Secretary of National Sports Council Ram Charitra Mehta has been appointed as the Chef de Mission of the Nepali contingent. However, he is not going to attend the event citing the 10th National Games preparation.

Before the official inauguration, Nepal's campaign had already begun with dismal results.

The women's volleyball team opened their schedule on 16 September with a straight-sets defeat to Japan, followed by another loss to Indonesia on 17 September. These results eliminate their knockout contention, leaving them to contest the 9th to 14th play-off places.

The softball team similarly endured a tough start, with the men's side falling 3-0 to both South Korea and Indonesia.

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