India’s Asian Games 2026 Campaign Begins Early as Teqball Makes Continental Debut

India’s campaign at the Asian Games 2026 will begin two days before the official opening ceremony, with teqball taking centre stage in Nagoya on Thursday. 

Declan Marshall Gonsalves and Mohamed Anas Imran Beg will become the first Indian athletes to compete at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, as the sport makes its debut at the continental multi-sport event. The Indian men’s doubles pair will enter the competition with valuable international experience behind them. Gonsalves and Beg won a bronze medal at the 2024 World Teqball Championships in Vietnam, securing India’s first-ever medal at the world championships in the sport. They will now look to carry that momentum into the Asian Games and make an impact in teqball’s first appearance at the event.

The men’s doubles competition features 24 pairs, with the Indian duo drawn in Group B. Their opening assignment will be a demanding double-header at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center.

India will play Vietnam’s Truong Giang Ba and Anh Khoa Le at 12:30 PM IST, before facing South Korea’s Junsuk Lee and Taebeen Lee at 1:00 PM IST. The results of those matches will determine India’s route into the knockout stages. The quarter-finals are scheduled for later on Thursday, while the competition also provides a repechage route for teams looking for another opportunity to advance.

For the Indian pair, the immediate objective will be to negotiate the group stage successfully before turning their attention towards the knockout rounds.

India has sent a three-member teqball squad to the Asian Games. Along with Gonsalves and Beg, Quimcy Dsouza will compete in the women’s singles and mixed doubles. Beg will partner Dsouza in the mixed doubles, while Dsouza will also compete individually in the women’s singles. She has been drawn in Group A and is scheduled to face Japan’s Yuina Sakamoto before taking on Cambodia’s Koemyean Dy on September 18.

Technical director Nihar Shah is overseeing the Indian contingent in Nagoya.

All three Indian athletes are Mumbai-based and continue to balance their sporting commitments with full-time jobs, adding another dimension to their journey to the Asian Games.

What is Teqball?

Teqball is a relatively new sport that combines elements of football and table tennis. Developed in Hungary, it is played on a specially designed curved table with a football rather than a conventional table-tennis ball.

The sport can broadly be described as a combination of football skills, freestyle football and elements associated with other net-based sports. Players use their feet, thighs, knees, chest and head to control and return the ball across the net. Hands and arms cannot be used. The distinctive curved table is central to the sport. Its shape affects the ball’s trajectory and rebound, requiring players to develop exceptional control, anticipation, balance and precision.

Teqball was developed in Hungary by football enthusiasts who wanted to create a new way of playing football on a table. The first teqball table was produced in 2014, while the sport’s international governing body, FITEQ, was established three years later. The sport has since expanded internationally and will now reach another milestone with its inclusion at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.

Teqball can be contested in singles or doubles. At the Asian Games, five medal events will be held: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. A match can consist of up to three sets, with the first player or team to reach 12 points winning a set. If the score reaches 11-11, a player or team must establish a two-point advantage to win the set.

Players must return the ball to the opponent’s side while complying with restrictions on the number and sequence of touches. In singles, a player can use up to three touches, while doubles teams also have a maximum of three touches collectively. In doubles, the two teammates must alternate their touches, making communication and positioning particularly important.

Players also cannot use the same body part for two consecutive touches. A rally ends when a player fails to make a legal return, allows the ball to bounce more than once on their side, hits the ball outside the playing area or commits another fault. These rules make teqball a sport that demands much more than footballing ability. Players need to combine technical skill with quick reactions, precise ball control and an understanding of the unusual rebound created by the curved table.

India’s entry into teqball at the Asian Games comes after its strongest international achievement in the sport to date. Gonsalves and Beg’s bronze at the 2024 World Championships demonstrated their ability to compete against established international opponents. Their Asian Games campaign will now offer another opportunity to raise the profile of the sport in India.

With teqball making its Asian Games debut, the Indian men's doubles pair will have the distinction of being among the first athletes from the country to compete in the discipline at the continental event. For Gonsalves and Beg, the path begins against Vietnam and South Korea. A strong start could take them into the quarter-finals later in the day, with the repechage offering another route forward if required. India’s wider Asian Games campaign will officially gather pace with the opening ceremony on September 19, but the country's sporting journey in Aichi-Nagoya begins a little earlier.

And it begins with a sport that combines football, precision and a uniquely curved table.