Asian Para Games 2026: India Names 168-Member Athlete Contingent as Sumit Antil, Avani Lekhara Lead Medal Charge

India will look to build on its historic performance at the Asian Para Games when the fifth edition of the continental multi-sport event takes place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from October 18 to 24, 2026. 

The Indian contingent features 168 athletes competing across 11 disciplines, with Paralympic champions Sumit Antil and Avani Lekhara among the leading medal prospects. The competition will bring together athletes from 45 nations across 19 disciplines, providing India with another opportunity to strengthen its position in para sport in Asia. At the previous edition in Hangzhou, China, India recorded its best-ever medal haul at the Asian Para Games, winning 108 medals, including 27 gold.

That performance sets an important benchmark for the 2026 campaign. With athletes spread across track and field, badminton, shooting, swimming, archery and several other disciplines, India will rely on contributions from across its contingent to deliver a strong overall showing.

Two of India's most prominent para-athletes will arrive in Aichi-Nagoya as defending champions in their respective events. Sumit Antil, listed as Sumit in the official squad, will compete in the men's F64 javelin throw. A double Paralympic champion, he will be among India's principal medal contenders in para athletics. His event is part of a substantial athletics contingent that includes established international performers and athletes entered in multiple disciplines.

Avani Lekhara will defend her title in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. The double Paralympic champion is also entered in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 competition, giving her two opportunities to challenge for medals in para shooting.

India's shooting squad comprises 13 athletes, while para athletics has the largest representation with 62. The depth of the athletics team, combined with India's strength in shooting and badminton, will be central to the country's campaign.

Para athletics forms the backbone of the contingent

With 62 athletes, para athletics accounts for the largest share of India's 168-member team. The entries cover sprinting, middle-distance running, jumping and throwing events, offering medal opportunities across a wide range of classifications.

The men's squad includes athletes competing in the javelin throw, shot put, discus throw, club throw, long jump, high jump and track events. Sumit will contest the F64 javelin, while Nishad Kumar is entered in the T47 long jump and high jump. Pranav Soorma will compete in the F51 club throw and the F51/52/53 discus throw.

The women's athletics team includes Deepthi Jeevanji in the T20 400m, Preeti Pal in the T35 100m and Nimisha Chakkungalparambil Suresh in the T47 long jump. The squad also features entries in middle-distance running, sprinting, shot put, discus throw and javelin.

India has selected 28 athletes for para badminton, the second-largest discipline in its contingent. The roster features several experienced international competitors, including Pramod Bhagat, Sukant Kadam, Krishna Nagar, Manasi Girishchandra Joshi and Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj.

The badminton entries span men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles across different classifications. Manasi Joshi, Thulasimathi Murugesan and Alphia James have multiple events listed, while the men's team includes competitors in SL3, SL4, SU5, SH6, WH1 and WH2 categories.

In para shooting, Lekhara is joined by Mona Agarwal, Manish Narwal, Nihal Singh and other competitors. The team includes rifle and pistol events, with athletes entered in 10m air rifle, 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and 50m pistol competitions.

Opportunities across eight other disciplines

Beyond athletics, badminton and shooting, India's team includes athletes in para archery, para swimming, para table tennis, para powerlifting, para judo, boccia, blind football and para cycling.

Para archery has 11 athletes, including Harvinder Singh, Sheetal Devi, Payal Nag and Vijay Sundi. The entries cover recurve, compound and W1 events, including doubles competitions.

Sixteen swimmers will represent India across freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke events. The squad includes individual races and mixed relay entries, with several swimmers competing in multiple events. Para table tennis has 10 athletes, with entries across men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles classifications.

India has eight para powerlifters, seven para judokas, two boccia athletes and one para cyclist. The blind football team consists of 10 players. Although these disciplines have smaller contingents than athletics and badminton, each provides another avenue for India to compete for medals.

The 2026 campaign will test India's ability to translate its growing depth in para sport into results across a broad programme. The record 108-medal performance in Hangzhou offers a clear reference point, but the final outcome in Aichi-Nagoya will depend on performances across individual events and team competitions.

With defending champions Antil and Lekhara among the headline names and representation across 11 disciplines, India enters the fifth Asian Para Games with an experienced core and a wide range of medal opportunities.

India's full squad for the Asian Para Games 2026

The following roster and event entries are reproduced from the supplied squad list.

Blind Football: 10 athletes

Boje Marbom; Klingson Marak; Pradeep Patel; Sahil; Shivam Singh; Sovendra Singh; Tushar Kumar; Vishnubhatejuba Vaghela; Aditya Sajwan; Sujith Puthankattunikarath Sasi. All are listed for men's blind football.

Boccia 2 athletes

• Sachin Chamaria: Men's Individual BC3; Mixed Pairs BC3.

• Anjali Devi: Women's Individual BC3; Mixed Pairs BC3.

Para Archery 11 athletes

• Harvinder Singh: Men's recurve; men's recurve doubles.

• Vijay Sundi: Men's recurve; men's recurve doubles.

• Toman Kumar: Men's compound; men's compound doubles.

• Shyam Sunder Swami: Men's compound; men's compound doubles.

• Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari: Men's W1; men's W1 doubles.

• Vinayak Amol Breed: Men's W1; men's W1 doubles.

• Sheetal Devi: Women's compound; women's compound doubles.

• Payal Nag: Women's compound; women's compound doubles.

• Bhawna: Women's recurve; women's recurve doubles.

• Pooja: Women's recurve; women's recurve doubles.

• Swati Chaudhary: Women's W1.

Para Athletics 62 athletes

• Ajay Kumar: Men's 400m T64.

• Akira Nandan Banothu: Men's 400m T38.

• Devender Kumar: Men's discus F64.

• Haney: Men's javelin F37/38; men's discus F37.

• Dilip Mahadu Gavit: Men's 100m T47; men's 400m T47.

• Mahendra Gurjar: Men's javelin F64; men's long jump T63.

• Manjeet: Men's javelin F13.

• Mohammed Basil Morssinganakathi: Men's 100m T47.

• Nishad Kumar: Men's long jump T47; men's high jump T47.

• Parveen: Men's shot put F46.

• Pranav Soorma: Men's club throw F51; men's discus F51/52/53.

• Rakeshbhai Bhatt: Men's long jump T37; men's 100m T37; men's 200m T37.

• Ram Ratan Singh: Men's discus F51/52/53.

• Rinku: Men's javelin F46.

• Sachin Sarjerao Khilari: Men's shot put F46.

• Shailesh Kumar: Men's long jump T63; men's high jump T63.

• Sharath Makanahalli Shankarappa: Men's 5000m T13; men's 1500m T13.

• Sumit: Men's javelin F64.

• Ajeet Singh: Men's javelin F46.

• Ayush Verma: Men's javelin F54; men's shot put F53.

• Dharambir: Men's club throw F51.

• Hokato Hotozhe Sema: Men's shot put F57.

• Mohd Yasser: Men's shot put F46.

• Navdeep: Men's javelin F41.

• Parmod: Men's 1500m T46.

• Pranav Prashant Desai: Men's 100m T64; men's 200m T64.

• Praveen Kumar: Men's high jump T64.

• Rakesh: Men's discus F64.

• Ravi Rongali: Men's javelin F41; men's shot put F40.

• Solairaj Dharmaraj: Men's long jump T64.

• Sujith Mandalamkunnath Sivadasan: Men's long jump T13; men's 100m T13.

• Varun Singh Bhati: Men's high jump T63.

• Vishesh: Men's shot put F32.

• Amit Kumar: Men's club throw F51.

• Anubhav Choudhary: Men's 100m T35; men's 200m T35.

• Banti: Men's high jump T64.

• Bhavikkumar Dineshbhai Bharwad: Men's 400m T47.

• Pardeep Kumar: Men's discus F64.

• Pradeep Kumar: Men's javelin F54.

• Rahul: Men's high jump T63.

• Sandeep: Men's 100m T44; men's 400m T64.

• Sandip Sanjay Sargar: Men's javelin F64.

• Soman Rana: Men's shot put F57.

• Sukhchain: Men's javelin F55.

• Parveen Kumar: Men's javelin F57; men's discus F57.

• Praveen Sharma: Men's shot put F11; men's discus F11.

• Anjanaben Rohitbhai Bumbadiya: Women's 400m T47.

• Deepthi Jeevanji: Women's 400m T20.

• Nimisha Chakkungalparambil Suresh: Women's long jump T47.

• Preeti Pal: Women's 100m T35.

• Simran: Women's 100m T12.

• Soumya: Women's 1500m T13.

• Jayanti Behera: Women's 400m T47.

• Tejalben Amraji Damor: Women's 400m T12.

• Radha Venkatesh: Women's 1500m T13.

• Amisha Rawat: Women's shot put F46.

• Bhagyashri Madhavrao Jadhav: Women's shot put F34.

• Karamjyoti: Women's discus F55.

• Rakshitha Raju: Women's 1500m T11.

• Suchitra Parida: Women's javelin F56.

• Suvarna Raj: Women's discus F54.

• Ravanni Valasanaini: Women's 1500m T11.

• Manisha Ramadass: Women's singles SU5; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan: Women's singles SH6; mixed doubles SH6.

Para Badminton 28 athletes

• Manisha Ramadass: Women's singles SU5; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan: Women's singles SH6; mixed doubles SH6.

• Alphia James: Women's singles WH2; women's doubles WH1-WH2; mixed doubles WH1-WH2.

• Thulasimathi Murugesan: Women's singles SU5; women's doubles SL3-SU5; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Mandeep Kaur: Women's singles SL3; women's doubles SL3-SU5.

• Neeraj: Women's singles SL3.

• Shanthiya Vishwanathan: Women's singles SU5; women's doubles SL3-SU5.

• Kanak Singh Jadaun: Women's singles SL4.

• Manasi Girishchandra Joshi: Women's singles SL3; women's doubles SL3-SU5; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Pallavi Kaluvehalli Manjunathareddy: Women's singles WH1; women's doubles WH1-WH2; mixed doubles WH1-WH2.

• Sanjana Kumari: Women's singles SL3.

• Naveen Sivakumar: Men's singles SL4.

• Nitesh Kumar: Men's singles SL3; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Krishna Nagar: Men's singles SH6; men's doubles SH6; mixed doubles SH6.

• Pramod Bhagat: Men's singles SL3; men's doubles SL3-SU5; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Sukant Kadam: Men's singles SL4; men's doubles SL3-SU5.

• Surya Kant Yadav: Men's singles SL4.

• Ruthick Ragupathi: Men's singles SU5; mixed doubles SL3-SU5.

• Sivarajan Solaimalai: Men's singles SH6; men's doubles SH6.

• Abu Hubaida: Men's singles WH2; men's doubles WH1-WH2; mixed doubles WH1-WH2.

• Prem Kumar Ale: Men's singles WH1; men's doubles WH1-WH2; mixed doubles WH1-WH2.

• Sudarsan Muthusamy Saravanakumar: Men's singles SH6.

• Umesh Vikram Kumar: Men's singles SL3.

• Haris Mythili Srikumar: Men's singles WH2.

• Hardik Makkar: Men's singles SU5.

• Abhijeet Sakhuja: Men's singles SL4.

• Rakesh Pandey: Men's singles SU5.

• Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj: Men's singles SL4.

Para Cycling 1 athlete

• Arshad Shaik: Men's C1-3 1000m time trial; men's C1-2 3000m individual pursuit; men's C1-3 road race; men's C1-5 time trial.

Para Judo 7 athletes

• Kapil Parmar: Men's -70kg J1.

• Bijender: Men's -95kg J2.

• Renuka Narayan Salave: Women's -70kg J1.

• Kokila: Women's -52kg J2.

• Gulshan: Women's -70kg J2.

• Vrushali Ashok More: Women's -70kg J2.

• Dimple: Women's +70kg J2.

Para Powerlifting 8 athletes

• Ashok: Men's up to 65kg.

• Jhandu Kumar: Men's up to 72kg.

• Manish Kumar: Men's up to 59kg.

• Parmjeet Kumar: Men's up to 59kg.

• Suman Devi: Women's up to 61kg; women's team event.

• Kasthuri Rajamani: Women's up to 67kg; women's team event.

• Jaspreet Kaur: Women's up to 45kg; women's team event.

• Seema Rani: Women's up to 61kg.

Para Shooting 13 athletes

• Anandha Krishnan H: Men's 10m air rifle standing SH1 (R1).

• Amir Ahmad Bhat: Open 25m pistol SH1 (P3).

• Manish Narwal: Men's 10m air pistol SH1 (P1).

• Nihal Singh: Men's 10m air pistol SH1 (P1); open 25m pistol SH1 (P3).

• Rakesh Nidagundi: Men's 10m air rifle standing SH1 (R1).

• Rudransh Khandelwal: Men's 10m air pistol SH1 (P1); open 50m pistol SH1 (P4).

• Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar: Men's 10m air rifle standing SH1 (R1).

• Avani Lekhara: Women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 (R2); women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 (R8).

• Mona Agarwal: Women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 (R2); women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 (R8).

• Bhakti Sharma: Women's 10m air pistol SH1 (P2).

• Rubina Francis: Women's 10m air pistol SH1 (P2).

• Shrishti Arora: Women's 10m air pistol SH1 (P2).

• Sumedha Pathak: Women's 10m air pistol SH1 (P2).

Para Swimming 16 athletes

• Kapil Kumar: Men's 100m and 400m freestyle S10; mixed 4x100m freestyle.

• Ajay Hindurao Bhosale: Men's 50m and 100m freestyle S10.

• Ravi Veera Venkata Bhavani Budigina: Men's 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle S13; 100m backstroke S13; 100m breaststroke SB13.

• Abdul Quadir Indori: Men's 50m backstroke S5; 50m butterfly S5.

• Suyash Narayan Jadhav: Men's 50m freestyle S7; 50m butterfly S7.

• Chaitanya Vishwas Kulkarni: Men's 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle S6; 100m breaststroke SB5; mixed 4x100m freestyle.

• Rohit Kumar: Men's 100m breaststroke SB4.

• Gopichand Linguta: Men's 400m freestyle S7; 100m backstroke S7.

• Vanga Niranjan Mukundan: Men's 400m freestyle S7; 50m butterfly S7.

• Tejas Nandakumar: Men's 50m freestyle S7; 100m backstroke S7; mixed 4x100m medley.

• Himanshu Nandal: Men's 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle S11; 100m backstroke S11; 100m breaststroke SB11.

• Swatik Patil: Men's 100m breaststroke SB9; mixed 4x100m medley, 34 points.

• Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh: Men's 100m breaststroke SB4.

• Jahangir Molla: Men's 100m breaststroke SB13; 100m butterfly S12.

• Vaishnavi Vinod Jagtap: Women's 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle S8; mixed 4x100m freestyle and medley.

• Devanshi Satija: Women's 50m freestyle S10; 100m backstroke S10; 100m butterfly S10; mixed 4x100m freestyle and medley.

Para Table Tennis 10 athletes

• Bhavinaben Hasmukhbhai Patel: Women's singles classes 4-5; women's doubles WD5; mixed doubles XD7.

• Sonalben Manubhai Patel: Women's singles class 3.

• Baby Sahana Ravi: Women's singles class 9.

• Ekta Bhyan: Women's singles class 1; women's doubles WD5.

• Prachi Pandey: Women's singles class 6.

• Savita Vittal Ajjanakatti: Women's singles class 8; mixed doubles XD17.

• Dattaprasad Jotiram Chougule: Men's singles class 9; mixed doubles XD17.

• Sandeep Dangi: Men's singles class 1.

• Jehan Dorab Madan: Men's singles class 1; men's doubles MD4.

• Shubham Wadhwa: Men's singles class 3; men's doubles MD4; mixed doubles XD7.