Asian Games 2026: India’s Confirmed Squad So Far as 45 Nations Prepare for Aichi-Nagoya

India will head to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 with expectations raised after its record medal haul at Hangzhou 2023. The continental showpiece will be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4, with 45 countries and regions expected to compete across 43 sports.

India's final contingent is still taking shape, with several national squads yet to be announced. However, a significant number of athletes and teams have already been confirmed, giving a clearer picture of the country's challenge in Japan. At Hangzhou 2023, India produced its best-ever Asian Games performance, winning 107 medals — 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze. The challenge in Aichi-Nagoya will be to maintain that momentum while building towards the next Olympic cycle.

Olympic medallists headline India’s challenge.

Four individual Olympic medallists have so far been confirmed among India's contingent.

Two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker will spearhead India's shooting campaign, while badminton star PV Sindhu, boxer Lovlina Borgohain and wrestler Aman Sehrawat are also expected to be among India's leading medal contenders.

Cricket will also return to the Asian Games programme, with both Indian teams entering the T20 competitions as defending champions. Shreyas Iyer will lead the men's side, while Harmanpreet Kaur will captain the women's team.

Hockey carries Olympic qualification significance.

The hockey competitions will have added importance in Aichi-Nagoya because the men's and women's tournaments will serve as continental qualification events for the LA 2028 Olympics. The winners of both Asian Games hockey tournaments will secure direct qualification for Los Angeles, putting additional pressure on India's men's and women's teams.

Both squads have already been confirmed, with Harmanpreet Singh leading the men's team and Salima Tete captaining the women's side. India will also have a strong presence in squash. Anahat Singh, who helped India win women's team and mixed doubles bronze medals at Hangzhou 2023, returns to the Asian Games squad.

Shooting is among India's biggest confirmed squads, with athletes selected across rifle, pistol, trap and skeet events. Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rahi Sarnobat, Anish, Kynan Chenai, Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan are among the established names in the squad.

Badminton will feature an experienced men's group including Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Ayush Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty. PV Sindhu will lead the women's singles challenge alongside Unnati Hooda, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and other combinations will compete in doubles.

Wrestling also has a strong confirmed contingent. Aman Sehrawat will compete in men's freestyle, while the women's team includes Antim Panghal, Manisha Bhanwala, Mansi Ahlawat, Nisha Dahiya and Priya Malik. Deepak Punia is among the leading names in the men's freestyle squad.

The Indian contingent is not solely built around established stars. Several younger athletes have earned places and will gain valuable experience at one of Asia's biggest multi-sport events. In table tennis, the women's squad includes Sreeja Akula, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Syndrela Das, while the men's team features Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah and Payas Jain.

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Tennis also has a blend of established and emerging players, with Sumit Nagal, Manas Dhamne, Dhakshineswar Suresh, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Vaishnavi Adkar and Vaidehi Chaudhari among those selected. The Asian Games will therefore provide an important platform for India's next generation alongside its established medal contenders.

Several squads still to be announced

While a substantial part of India's contingent has been confirmed, the selection process is not complete. Athletics, swimming, fencing, volleyball, rugby sevens, weightlifting, judo, kabaddi, cycling and several other sports are still listed as to be announced in the current squad information.

The final size of India's contingent will therefore grow as more national teams are selected. For now, the confirmed names point towards a broad-based Indian challenge across traditional strengths such as shooting, wrestling, badminton and hockey, while emerging athletes will look to make their mark in Japan.

Confirmed Indian Players and Teams So Far

Archery

• Recurve Team & Individual

  • Dhiraj Bommadevara

  • Neeraj Chauhan

  • Yashdeep Bhoge

  • Kirti Sharma

  • Kumkum Anil Mohod 

  • Ankita Bhakat

• Compound Team & Individual

  • Sahil Jadhav 

  • Kushal Dalal

  • Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam 

  • Jyothi Surekha Vennam

  • Chikitha Taniparthi

  • Prithika Pradeep

Badminton

• Lakshya Sen 

• Ayush Shetty

• HS Prannoy (Team)

• Kidambi Srikanth (Team)

• Tharun Mannepalli (Team)

• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

• Chirag Shetty

• Hariharan Amsakarunan

• MR Arjun

• Dhruv Kapila

• PV Sindhu

• Unnati Hooda

• Devika Sihag (Team)

• Tanvi Sharma (Team)

• Isharani Baruah (Team)

• Treesa Jolly

• Gayatri Gopichand

• Kavipriya Selvam

• Simran Singhi

• Tanisha Crasto

Boxing

• Jadumani Singh M55

• Sachin Siwach M60

• Sumit Kundu M70

• Ankush M80

• Kapil Pokhariya M90

• Narender Berwal M90+

• Sakshi Chaudhary W51

• Preeti Pawar W54

• Priya Ghanghas W60

• Parveen Hooda W65

• Lovlina Borgohain W75

Cricket

• Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

• Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh(WK), Gunalan Kamalini(WK), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Nandni Sharma

ESports

• Gurashish Singh / Soul (Tekken 8)

• Prateek Bhaunt / B Haunt (Street Fighter 6) 

• Akshaj Shenoy / Kat Bot (League of Legends)

• Aakash Shandilya / Infi (League of Legends)

• Sanindhya Malik / Deadcorporal (League of Legends)

• Mihir Ranjan / Lotus (League of Legends)

• Ahmed Shahid / Nero (League of Legends)

• Rahul Bisht / Bob (League of Legends)

Golf

• Yuvraj Sandhu (men)

• Veer Ahlawat (men)

• Saptak Talwar (men)

• Aditi Ashok (women)

• Diksha Dagar (women)

• Pranavi Urs (women)

Hockey

• Harmanpreet Singh (c), Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek Nain, Rajinder Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Prasad, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay Rana, Sumit Kumar, Yashdeep Siwach, Mohith H. S., Suraj Karkera
   

• Salima Tete (c), Lalremsiami Hmarzote, Rutuja Pisal, Navneet Kaur, Deepika Sehrawat, Ishika Chaudhary, Baljeet Kaur, Beauty Dungdung, Nikki Pradhan, Sakshi Rana, Sunelita Toppo, Neha Goyal, Deepika Soreng, Ishika Chaudhary, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Lalthantluangi, Jyoti Singh, Shilpi Dabas, Savita Punia (GK), Bichu Devi Kharibam (GK)
   

Squash

• Abhay Singh

• Veer Chotrani

• Anahat Singh

• Tanvi Khanna

• Velavan Senthilkumar/Joshna Chinappa

• Suraj Chand/Shameena Riaz

Surfing

• Kishore Kumar

• Sivaraj Babu

• Kamali Moorthy

• Sugar Banarase

Shooting

• 10m Air Pistol: Aakash Bhardwaj, Kamaljeet, Kedarling Uchaganve
  25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Himanshu Dhillon
  10m Air Rifle: Himanshu Dhillon, Parth Mane, Rudrankksh Patil
  50m Rifle 3 Positions: Aishwary Pratap Tomar, Niraj Kumar, Rudrankksh Patil
  Skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Bhavtegh Singh Gill, Mairaj Ahmed Khan
  Trap: Ahvar Rizvi, Kynan Chenai, Shapath Bharadwaj

• 10m Air Pistol: Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Singh
  25m Pistol: Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat
  10m Air Rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa Vinod
  50m Rifle 3 Positions: Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa Vinod
  Skeet: Maheshwari Chauhan, Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon
  Trap: Aashima Ahlawat, Manisha Keer, Neeru Dhanda

Table Tennis

• Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

• Harmeet Desai

• Manav Thakkar

• Manush Shah

• Payas Jain

• Sreeja Akula

• Yashaswini Ghorpade

• Diya Chitale

• Sutirtha Mukherjee

• Syndrela Das

Tennis

• Sumit Nagal

• Manas Dhamne

• Dhakshineswar Suresh

• Yuki Bhambri

• N Sriram Balaji

• Anirudh Chandrasekar

• Sahaja Yamalapalli

• Vaishnavi Adkar

• Vaidehi Chaudhari

• Rutuja Bhosale

• Prarthana Thombare

• Ankita Raina

Wrestling

• Dipanshi W50

• Antim Panghal W53

• Manisha Bhanwala W57

• Mansi Ahlawat W62

• Nisha Dahiya W68

• Priya Malik W76

• Aman Sehrawat FS57

• Sujeet Kalkal FS65

• Sagar Jaglan FS74

• Mukul Dahiya FS86

• Deepak Punia FS97

• Rajat Ruhal FS125

• Sumit Dalal GR60

• Deepak GR67

• Aman GR77

• Sunil Kumar GR87

• Nitesh Kumar GR97

• Ronak Dahiya GR130

The list will expand as more Indian teams and athletes are officially announced.