Asian Games 2026: India’s Medal Chances, Biggest Stars and Complete Sport-Wise Contingent
The countdown to the 2026 Asian Games has entered its final stage.
The 20th Asian Games will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, bringing together athletes from across Asia.
India will enter the Games with one of its strongest multi-sport contingents, with the approved squad featuring 492 athletes across 35 sports and disciplines. The contingent consists of 265 men and 227 women.
India won a record 107 medals at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The target this time will be to challenge that record and produce another historic performance.
However, India's medal hopes have suffered a major blow with Neeraj Chopra ruled out of the Games after an ankle ligament injury.
India's Biggest Medal Hope: Shooting
Shooting is expected to be one of India's biggest medal-producing sports.
The Indian shooting contingent includes Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Anish, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, Esha Singh, Elavenil Valarivan, Rahi Sarnobat, Maheshwari Chauhan and several other established shooters.
Manu Bhaker will be one of the biggest names to watch in the entire Indian contingent.
Medal chance: Very High
Athletics
Athletics remains India's largest contingent with 73 athletes in the approved squad.
The team includes Gulveer Singh, Avinash Sable, Sreeshankar, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Annu Rani, Jyothi Yarraji, Parul Chaudhary, Tejaswin Shankar, Animesh Kujur and many other leading athletes.
Neeraj Chopra was originally selected for the javelin throw but has subsequently withdrawn because of injury.
Gulveer Singh's performances in 2026 have significantly increased India's medal expectations in distance running, while Sreeshankar, Avinash Sable, Annu Rani, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Jyothi Yarraji are among the athletes capable of challenging for podium places.
Medal chance: Very High
Badminton
India's badminton team is once again packed with major names.
Men's contingent
Hariharan Amsakarunan, Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar, Dhruv Kapila, Srikanth Kidambi, Arjun Ramachandran, Tharun Mannepalli, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty and Ayush Shetty.
Women's contingent
Isharani Baruah, Tanisha Crasto, Unnati Hooda, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand, PV Sindhu, Kavipriya Selvam, Tanvi Sharma, Devika Sihag and Simran Aman Singhi.
Satwik-Chirag will be among India's strongest medal prospects, while Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu remain major singles contenders.
Medal chance: Very High
Boxing
India's boxing contingent includes Lovlina Borgohain, Preeti Pawar, Sakshi, Parveen, Priya and leading men's boxers including Sachin, Sumit, Ankush, Narender, Jadumani Singh Mandengbam and Kapil Pokhariya.
Lovlina Borgohain will be one of India's leading medal candidates.
India's strong performance at the 2026 Commonwealth Games has also raised expectations around the boxing team.
Medal chance: High
Wrestling
India's wrestling contingent features Aman Sehrawat, Deepak Punia, Antim Panghal, Nisha, Manisha, Priya, Sagar Jaglan and other national-level wrestlers.
Wrestling has historically been one of India's most reliable medal sports at the Asian Games.
Medal chance: High
Weightlifting
The biggest name is Mirabai Chanu in the women's 49kg category.
India's contingent also includes Gyaneshwari Yadav, Seram Nirupama Devi, Harjinder Kaur and Rishikanta Singh.
Mirabai remains India's strongest medal candidate in the sport.
Medal chance: High
Archery
India will compete in both recurve and compound events.
The contingent includes Dhiraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge, Neeraj Chauhan, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Ankita Bhakat, Kumkum Anil Mohod and other archers.
Compound archery in particular provides India with strong medal opportunities.
Medal chance: Very High
Hockey
India will field both men's and women's hockey teams.
Men's team
Jarmanpreet Singh, Rajinder Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Manpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Abhishek, Mandeep Singh, Suraj Karkera, Shilanand Lakra, Raj Kumar Pal, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Amit Rohidas, Nilakanta Sharma, Mohith Honnenahalli Shashikumar and Yashdeep Siwach.
Women's team
Navneet Kaur, Ishika, Neha, Lalthantluangi, Jyoti, Deepika Soreng, Baljeet Kaur, Deepika, Savita, Lalremsiami, Ishika Chaudhary, Shilpi Dabas, Beauty Dungdung, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Rutuja Pisal, Nikki Pradhan, Sushila Chanu, Sakshi Rana, Salima Tete and Sunelita Toppo.
The men's team are defending Asian Games champions, while both the men's and women's champions in Aichi-Nagoya will earn direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Medal chance: Very High
Cricket
India will compete in both men's and women's T20 cricket.
Men's team
Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sanju Samson.
Women's team
Renuka Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Bharti Fulmali, Kranti Gaud, Richa Ghosh, Kamalini, Smriti Mandhana, Sree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Nandani Sharma and Radha Yadav.
Both Indian teams enter as defending Asian Games champions.
Medal chance: Very High
Kabaddi
Both Indian teams will compete.
The men's team includes Arjun Deshwal, Ashu Malik, Pawan Kumar, Naveen-type emerging talent and several leading domestic players.
The women's squad includes Ritu Negi, Jyoti Thakur, Pinki Roy, Sonali Vishnu Shingate and others.
Kabaddi remains one of India's traditional Asian Games strengths.
Medal chance: Very High
Squash
India's squad includes Abhay Singh, Velavan Senthilkumar, Veer Chotrani, Anahat Singh, Joshana Chinappa and Tanvi Khanna.
Anahat Singh and the men's team will be among India's leading medal prospects.
Medal chance: High
Golf
India's contingent features Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar, Pranavi Urs, Veer Ahlawat, Yuvraj Sandhu and Saptak Talwar.
Aditi Ashok is the biggest individual medal prospect.
Medal chance: Medium to High
Equestrian
India's contingent includes Fouaad Mirza, Hriday Chheda, Ahaan Kumar, Ashish Limaye, Arjan Singh Nagra, Gaurav Pundir, Jai Sud and Shruti Vora.
Medal chance: Medium
Sailing
Nethra Kumanan, Vishnu Saravanan and other Indian sailors will compete across dinghy, skiff and windsurfing events.
Medal chance: Medium
Rowing
India will field a sizeable rowing squad featuring Balraj Panwar, Arvind Singh, Satnam Singh Ghurde, Jaswinder Singh, Navdeep Singh and others.
Medal chance: Medium
Judo
The team includes Asmita Dey, Yamini Mourya and Inunganbi Takhellambam.
India's recent Commonwealth Games performance has increased expectations around the judokas.
Medal chance: Medium
Fencing
Bhavani Devi headlines the fencing contingent, alongside Sachin, Gisho Nidhi Kumaresan Padma, Shreya Gupta and other Indian fencers.
Medal chance: Medium
Table Tennis
India's contingent includes Sreeja Akula, Manika-related senior players, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, Payas Jain and other leading paddlers.
India will target medals in both team and doubles events.
Medal chance: Medium to High
Swimming
The squad includes Srihari Nataraj, Sajan Prakash, Vedaant Madhavan, Aryan Nehra and other swimmers.
India's medal chances are more limited compared with shooting, athletics or badminton, but several athletes can challenge for finals and podium positions.
Medal chance: Medium
Other Sports
India will also participate in:
Sport Climbing
Canoe Slalom
Canoe Sprint
Cycling Track
Esports
Karate
Kurash
Mixed Martial Arts
Rugby Sevens
Sepaktakraw
Teqball
Taekwondo
Soft Tennis
Volleyball
Wushu
These disciplines provide opportunities for breakthrough medals and can be important in India's overall medal tally.
India's Strongest Medal-Producing Sports
Based on the current contingent and recent performances, Sportspredictor rates India's medal prospects as:
| Sport | Medal Chance |
|---|---|
| Shooting | Very High |
| Athletics | Very High |
| Badminton | Very High |
| Archery | Very High |
| Hockey | Very High |
| Cricket | Very High |
| Kabaddi | Very High |
| Boxing | High |
| Wrestling | High |
| Weightlifting | High |
| Squash | High |
| Table Tennis | Medium-High |
| Golf | Medium-High |
| Judo | Medium |
| Rowing | Medium |
| Sailing | Medium |
India's Biggest Medal Hopes
The athletes and teams who could play the biggest role in India's medal tally include:
Manu Bhaker — Shooting
Gulveer Singh — Athletics
PV Sindhu — Badminton
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty — Badminton
Lakshya Sen — Badminton
Jyothi Surekha Vennam — Archery
Lovlina Borgohain — Boxing
Aman Sehrawat — Wrestling
Mirabai Chanu — Weightlifting
Anahat Singh — Squash
Aditi Ashok — Golf
Indian Men's Hockey Team — Hockey
Indian Women's Hockey Team — Hockey
Indian Men's Cricket Team — Cricket
Indian Women's Cricket Team — Cricket
Sportspredictor Medal Prediction
India's 2026 Asian Games campaign could be one of the country's most successful ever.
The biggest difference from previous editions is the depth of India's contingent. Shooting, athletics, badminton, archery, hockey, cricket, kabaddi, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting provide multiple realistic medal opportunities.
The withdrawal of Neeraj Chopra is a major setback, particularly for India's gold-medal expectations in athletics. However, India still has enough medal contenders to target another record-breaking campaign.
Sportspredictor prediction: India could challenge the 100-medal mark again, with shooting, athletics, badminton, hockey, archery, cricket and kabaddi likely to be the biggest contributors.
The final medal tally will depend heavily on how many of India's favourites convert strong qualification and ranking positions into podium finishes.
Sportspredictor | Author: Anirudh Gaur
Sports Management & Operations
