India at Asian Games 2026: Full Schedule for October 1, Key Events and Medal Opportunities

October 1 promises another packed day for India at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026, with athletes competing across tennis, hockey, squash, archery, wrestling, shooting, judo, cycling, golf, sailing, canoe slalom, taekwondo, rugby sevens and sports climbing.

The official schedule lists events from early morning in Indian Standard Time through the evening, with several competitions reaching semifinal and medal stages. Among the biggest attractions are Sumit Nagal’s men’s singles tennis quarterfinal, India’s men’s hockey semifinal against Pakistan, the women’s squash semifinal against Hong Kong, and multiple wrestling and archery medal opportunities.

The schedule is marked “Subject to Change”, so timings should be treated as the published programme rather than immutable start times.

The tennis programme begins with Sumit Nagal’s men’s singles quarterfinal against China’s Yibing Wu. The match is scheduled for 6:30 AM IST at the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center. Nagal reached the last eight after defeating Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin 6-3, 6-2, while Wu awaits in the quarterfinal.

The mixed doubles quarterfinal involving Yuki Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale is also listed for 6:30 AM, although the schedule marks it as subject to qualification.

Archery: Chikitha Begins Knockout Run

Chikitha Taniparthi will have a particularly busy day in the women’s compound individual event. Her quarterfinal against Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah is scheduled for 5:30 AM IST. If she progresses, her semifinal is listed for 6:38 AM, followed by a potential bronze-medal match at 7:14 AM and gold-medal match at 7:31 AM.

That creates the possibility of four appearances for Chikitha in one day if she progresses through every stage. The men’s compound individual competition also begins later in the morning. Thirumuru Ganesh Maniratnam is scheduled to face Chinese Taipei’s Chieh-lun Chen in the quarterfinal at 9:47 AM IST. A potential semifinal is listed at 10:55 AM, with the gold-medal match scheduled for 11:31 AM if he advances.

India-Pakistan Hockey at 1 PM

One of the biggest team events of the day comes in the afternoon. India’s men’s hockey team will face Pakistan in the Asian Games semifinal at 1:00 PM IST at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium.

The match is the first men’s hockey semifinal listed in the schedule and carries a place in the gold-medal match at stake. India enter the contest as defending champions and will face Pakistan in another high-profile meeting between the two sides.

India’s men’s squash team will also be in semifinal action. Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani, Velavan Senthilkumar and Suraj Kumar Chand are scheduled to face Malaysia at 1:00 PM IST at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena. The Indian men's team secured its semifinal place with a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Kuwait.

Earlier in the day, India’s women’s squash team will take on Hong Kong at 7:00 AM IST in the semifinal. The listed squad comprises Anahat Singh, Joshna Chinappa, Tanvi Khanna and Shameena Riaz. Both team events therefore provide India with opportunities to progress into the Asian Games finals.

Wrestling Could Produce Multiple Medal Opportunities

Wrestling is another major focus on October 1. Aman is scheduled to compete in the men's 77kg Greco-Roman event, while Sumit will compete in the 60kg category. Nitesh is listed in the 97kg category, and Mansi will compete in the women's 62kg event.

Several later rounds are already built into the schedule, depending on qualification. Sumit’s potential quarterfinal is scheduled for 7:55 AM IST, followed by a possible semifinal at 8:29 AM. Aman’s potential quarterfinal and semifinal are listed at 8:04 AM and 8:42 AM respectively. Nitesh has a potential semifinal at 8:44 AM, while Mansi’s quarterfinal and semifinal are listed at 8:12 AM and 8:50 AM.

The evening is reserved for the medal bouts. If they qualify, Sumit, Aman and Nitesh will have bronze or gold medal matches from 2:30 PM IST, while Mansi’s medal bouts are also scheduled in that session.

Anish will continue in the men's 25m rapid-fire pistol individual competition, with Stage 2 qualification scheduled for 6:10 AM IST. A potential final is listed for noon. In taekwondo, Rupa Bayor is scheduled for the women's individual poomsae semifinal at 5:30 AM, followed by a potential gold-medal contest at noon.

Cycling also has a full programme. Keerthi Rangaswamy Chikka and Celestina are scheduled in the women's sprint qualification at 7:00 AM, with later knockout rounds and repechages through the afternoon. Harshveer Singh Sekhon competes in the men's omnium, while Harshita Jakhar and Swasti Singh are listed in the women's Madison final at 12:18 PM.

India’s golfers continue their second round at Kasugai Country Club. The women's team begins from 3:00 AM IST, with Pranavi Sharath Urs, Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok having individual tee times from 3:44 AM. The men's team begins from 7:10 AM, with Veer Ahlawat, Saptak Talwar and Yuvraj Sandhu continuing their second round.

Sailing, canoe slalom, judo, rugby sevens and sports climbing add further Indian participation throughout the day. Deepu Mallesh is scheduled for the men's Speed 4 quarterfinal at 4:42 PM IST, with potential semifinal and final appearances at 4:49 PM and 4:58 PM.

October 1 is therefore set to be one of the most consequential days of India's Asian Games campaign.

From Nagal's tennis quarterfinal and Chikitha's compound archery knockout run to the India-Pakistan hockey semifinal, squash semifinals and a potentially medal-heavy wrestling evening, the schedule contains several events capable of directly shaping India's medal tally.

For Indian fans, the most important windows are concentrated around 6:30-11:30 AM IST, followed by a major afternoon block from 1:00 PM onwards.

With multiple events marked conditional on qualification, the final shape of India's day will depend on results achieved earlier in the competition. But the published schedule already points to a day where several Indian athletes and teams could move from the knockout stages into Asian Games medal territory.