Asian Games 2026: Full schedule, India's contingent, venues and medal hopes; all you need to know

India's Avinash Mukund Sable celebrates after winning the men's 3000-meter steeplechase final event at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (PTI File Photo)

The Asian Games 2026 will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, with some events beginning before the official opening. Football will start on September 14, while cricket will begin on September 17.Japan will host the Asian Games for the third time, having previously hosted the event in Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. The 2026 edition will be held in Nagoya and other cities in Aichi Prefecture, with both the opening and closing ceremonies scheduled at Paloma Mizuho Stadium.A total of 45 countries and regions will compete across 43 sports at the Games.

India will look to build on its record medal haul at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where it won 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze.Neeraj Chopra will miss the Asian Games after withdrawing due to an ankle injury. India will still have five individual Olympic medallists in its contingent, with PV Sindhu in badminton, Manu Bhaker in shooting, Lovlina Borgohain in boxing, Aman Sehrawat in wrestling and Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting among the country's medal contenders.In cricket, Shreyas Iyer will lead India's title defence in the men's T20 competition, with teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also part of the squad.

The Indian women's team, which is also the defending champion, will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur.Hockey will be important at the Aichi-Nagoya Games as the men's and women's competitions will also serve as qualification events for the LA 2028 Olympics. The winners of both Asian Games hockey tournaments will earn direct qualification for the 2028 Olympics.Anahat Singh will return to the Asian Games after helping India win a bronze medal in the women's team squash event at Hangzhou 2023. She also won a mixed doubles bronze with Abhay Singh at the Games. Squash will offer Olympic quotas in the singles events.Here is the list of Indian sportspersons and teams who have been selected or have qualified for the Asian Games 2026 so far.

Indian men's sepak takraw team (regu and quadrant)

Indian women's sepak takraw teamWomen's double: Leirentonbi Devi Elangbam, Prity Langoljam, Menenu TsukruWomen's quadrant: Maipak Devi Ayekpam, Priya Devi Elangbam, Shilpa Elangbam, Chaoba Devi Oinam, Seyiekhrieno Tepa, Malemnganbi Yumnam

Asian Games 2026 Full Schedule

India finished fourth in Hangzhou with 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals. Athletics was its biggest medal-producing sport, with 29 medals, while shooting delivered seven golds. Archery, wrestling, boxing, badminton and the team sports are again expected to form the core of India's challenge.With Neeraj Chopra missing the Games because of a ligament injury, several other established names will carry much of the expectation.

The double Olympic medallist is among India's biggest individual medal prospects. Bhaker will compete in the 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events in Nagoya. She has already established herself as one of the country's leading shooters, although the depth of the Asian field means neither event will be straightforward.

At 21, Esha enters the Games in exceptional form. She is currently world No. 1 in the women's 25m pistol and No. 2 in 10m air pistol. She won two individual silvers and a team gold at Hangzhou and has since added World Cup titles and a world-record score.With India fielding a deep shooting team, Esha could be one of the country's biggest sources of medals.

India dominated compound archery in Hangzhou, winning gold in all five events. Jyothi Surekha Vennam, the reigning Asian Games champion, returns as the leading name in a younger compound team. India will expect the discipline to again produce multiple medals.

Mirabai has one major gap in an otherwise decorated career: an Asian Games medal. The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist finished ninth in 2014, missed the 2018 Games through injury and finished fourth in Hangzhou.Her task in Nagoya will be difficult. North Korea's Ri Song-gum, a two-time Asian Games champion and world-record holder, is the clear favourite in the 49kg category. But with leading lifters from China and Thailand absent, Mirabai has a realistic shot at finally reaching the podium.

India's badminton challenge will be led by Olympic medallist Sindhu.PV Sindhu remains a major medal threat despite a difficult recent period. She reached the Japan Open final earlier this year and has shown signs of a resurgence. Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, returned to the world's top 10 and remains capable of beating the best players in Asia.The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will also be among India's strongest medal bets. They will defend the Asian Games title they won in Hangzhou.

India's wrestling hopes include Sujeet Kalkal in the 65kg freestyle category and Paris Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat at 57kg.Sujeet's prospects received a boost with world No. 1 Rahman Amouzad of Iran withdrawing, although Japan's Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka remains a major obstacle.

Without Chopra, India's athletics challenge will be led by names including Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Parul Chaudhary. Sable and Toor will defend Asian Games titles, while Toor is chasing a third consecutive gold.India will also expect gold-medal challenges from its men's and women's hockey teams, as well as both cricket teams and both kabaddi teams. All four teams are defending Asian Games champions.

The women's hockey team, in particular, enters the Games after finishing fifth at the World Cup — its best World Cup result since 1974 — and will be chasing its first Asian Games gold in more than four decades.India's 100-medal target will ultimately depend less on one superstar than on this broad base of medal contenders. But if shooting, archery, athletics and the major team sports deliver as expected, another three-figure haul in Japan is within reach.