Mumbai: After a successful 2025 in which Indian sportspersons shone bright in many events on the global stage, the year 2026 heralds fresher and tougher challenges, and top-most on the radar is the 20th edition of the Asian Games to be held in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya in Japan from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
Olympic sports were a mixed bag for India in 2025 as the country did well in sports like archery, boxing, wrestling, shooting, weightlifting, and hockey. In archery, the Indian men’s recurve team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai, and Atanu Das won a silver medal in the 2025 World Cup.
While India dominated the compound section, the women’s team and Jyothi Surekha Vennam won silver medals in the compound team and individual competition.
Indian athletes fared well in the 2025 Summer World University Games, winning 12 medals, including two gold and five silver, but the year’s biggest sporting event, the Athletics World Championships, was a disappointment as Neeraj Chopra came out medal-less after finishing in the top two of major events since 2018.
Badminton, too, was a mixed bag, and apart from a few medals in junior events and mid-level competitions, only the men’s double pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty held their own against strong competition.
But now that is all water under the bridge, and Aichi–Nagoya 2026 provides Indian sportspersons the opportunity to make a play of their full potential in the Asian Games with two years to go for the Los Angeles Olympics and four years before the 2030 Commonwealth Games, when the competitions are expected to return to full scale, unlike the scaled-down version to be held in Glasgow in 2026 with only 10 sports to compete for.
The 2026 Asian Games will have 32 core sports, mostly those that are part of the Olympic Games, and 11 other sports and disciplines, which include five regional sports: Wushu, Sepak-takraw, Kabaddi, Kurash, and Jujitsu. Dancesports, roller sports, surfing, cricket, Esports, Mixed Martial Arts, and Padel will also be part of the schedule.
In all, 45 National Olympic Committees are expected to send their contingents for the 2026 Games, which will be unique as the participants will not be accommodated in a permanent Athletes Village as is usually done, but rather in a cruise ship docked at Kinjo Pier.
Participants will also be hosted in temporary villas made from repurposed shipping containers near the Port of Nagoya, and some will be based in several hotels across the prefecture and outlying cities.The venues will be spread across various cities in the Aichi Prefecture and in Nagoya, while swimming and equestrian competitions will be held in Tokyo.
The 2026 Asian Games will thus be a huge opportunity for India, the fifth most successful country in the Continental Games with 183 gold, 238 silver, and 357 bronze medals for a total of 778.
India will be going into the 20th edition of the Asian Games in Japan on the back of their best-ever performance at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where India bagged 108 medals — 28 gold, 38 silver, and 40 bronze.
This means the pressure will be on the participants to prove that the huge amount of money spent on them in the last couple of years was not wasted.
A good performance and a rich medal haul will also prove the natural progression and growth of Indian sports over the years, as visible in the total medals won by India in the last few editions of the Asian Games.
It will also be a grand buildup for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 and the Commonwealth Games in 2030, which will likely be held in Ahmedabad, which has been shortlisted by the Commonwealth Sport Executive Board.
Another successful Asian Games will also strengthen India’s bid for the 2036 Olympic Games. India has everything to play for in 2026, and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya will be the right opportunity for the country to excel.
(IANS)
