Asian Games 2026: Full schedule, venue, events and more

The Asian Games 2026 will be held from September 19 to October 4, 2026, though competition in several disciplines will begin before the opening ceremony on Saturday. India’s campaign at the Asian Games 2026 begins with teqball on Thursday, September 17, 2026, two days before the opening ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.ScheduleThe entire schedule of the 2026 Asian Games is slated between September 19 to October 4, 2026 in the city of Nagoya in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan.VenueThe Asian Games 2026 will bring together athletes from 45 countries and regions across 43 sports. It will be the 20th edition of the Games and the third time Japan has hosted the event, following Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. The Games will be held across 54 competition venues in Japan, with the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium serving as the main venue, according to Olympics.com.EventsThe multi-sport event will feature 43 standard sports along with newer disciplines such as freestyle BMX, mixed martial arts, paddle surfing, teqball and virtual taekwondo. Seven disciplines, namely archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon, offer direct qualification quotas for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.The sports included in the tournament 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.Indian athletesIndia heads into the tournament looking to build on its record-breaking performance at Hangzhou 2023, where it won 107 medals, including 28 gold. India will look to defend its men’s and women’s cricket titles as well as the men’s and women’s kabaddi crowns. The men’s hockey team also enters the competition as the reigning champion.In cricket, Shreyas Iyer will lead India’s title defence in the men’s T20 competition, with teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also included in the squad. The Indian women’s cricket team will be led by T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur.Hockey carries added significance in Aichi-Nagoya, with the men’s and women’s tournaments serving as continental qualification events for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.India can also secure Olympic quotas in archery, sailing, squash, surfing and tennis. Despite the withdrawal of defending javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra because of an ankle injury, India’s contingent will still include five individual Olympic medallists.PV Sindhu will spearhead India’s badminton campaign, while Mirabai Chanu will lead the weightlifting contingent. Manu Bhaker will be among India’s leading hopes in shooting, Aman Sehrawat will compete in wrestling, and Lovlina Borgohain will aim for success in boxing.India’s boxers arrive in Aichi-Nagoya on the back of a record-breaking Commonwealth Games campaign in which they won 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 among the country’s leading medal prospects. Tajinderpal Singh Toor heads to Aichi-Nagoya as a two-time defending champion in the shot put.Anahat Singh will return to the Asian Games after helping India win the women’s team bronze medal in squash at Hangzhou 2023. She also claimed a mixed doubles bronze alongside Abhay Singh.Where to watchLive streaming of the Asian Games 2026 will be available on Sony LIV in India. The Asian Games will be telecast live on the Sony Sports 1 and Sony Sports 5 channels in India. Coverage will also be available in regional languages on Sony Sports 3 (Hindi) and Sony Sports 4 (Tamil, Telugu and Kannada).(Source Olympics.com)