By Team INVC | INVC NEWS
AICHI-NAGOYA, Japan | September 12, 2026 —
Asian Games 2026 India Schedule is set to become one of the biggest sporting calendars of the year as Indian athletes prepare for the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
India heads to Japan after producing its best-ever Asian Games performance at Hangzhou, where the country crossed the 100-medal mark for the first time.
The challenge in Aichi-Nagoya is clear: build on that historic performance and remain among Asia’s leading sporting nations.
Cricket, athletics, shooting, hockey, badminton, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, archery and kabaddi will be among the biggest events for Indian audiences.
Several competitions begin before or around the opening ceremony, making the daily India schedule especially important for viewers.
Asian Games 2026 dates
Opening Ceremony: September 19, 2026
Closing Ceremony: October 4, 2026
Host: Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
Edition: 20th Asian Games
Sports: 43
Medal Events: 469
Competitions will take place across dozens of venues in Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya and other designated locations.
India enters Asian Games with huge expectations
India arrives in Japan after rewriting its Asian Games record at Hangzhou.
The country won 107 medals at Hangzhou 2022, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals, and finished fourth in the overall standings.
Athletics delivered India’s largest medal contribution at Hangzhou.
Shooting, archery, cricket, kabaddi and other disciplines also played major roles.
Aichi-Nagoya now presents India with the opportunity to challenge that record.
Asian Games 2026 India cricket schedule
Cricket will generate some of the highest search interest in India.
Both Indian men’s and women’s teams enter the Asian Games as defending champions.
The competition uses the T20 format.
India women’s cricket schedule
September 18 — India vs Japan, Quarterfinal
Time: 10:30 AM IST
India’s women enter directly at the knockout stage.
If India qualifies:
September 20 — Women’s Semifinal
Time: 5:30 AM or 10:30 AM IST
September 22 — Women’s Bronze Medal Match / Final
Time: 5:30 AM or 10:30 AM IST
India men’s cricket schedule
India’s men’s team also begins directly in the knockout phase.
September 28 — India vs Group A Runner-up, Quarterfinal
Time: 5:30 AM or 10:30 AM IST
If India qualifies:
October 1 — Men’s Semifinal
Time: 5:30 AM or 10:30 AM IST
October 3 — Men’s Bronze Medal Match / Final
Time: 5:30 AM or 10:30 AM IST
Cricket matches will be played at Korogi Athletic Park.
Athletics could again drive India’s medal tally
Athletics remains one of India’s most important medal sports.
Competition is scheduled to run from September 23 to September 29.
India’s athletics contingent includes several established international performers across track and field events.
Indian viewers should particularly watch javelin, long-distance running, steeplechase, jumps, throws and relay events.
Athletics produced 29 Indian medals at the previous Asian Games, making it a critical part of India’s overall campaign.
Neeraj Chopra remains a major Indian attraction
Neeraj Chopra will inevitably command enormous attention if he competes as scheduled.
The two-time Olympic medallist has won men’s javelin gold at the previous two Asian Games and would be chasing a remarkable third consecutive title.
His event is expected to become one of India’s most-watched moments of the Games.
However, viewers should follow final start lists and fitness updates closer to competition day because athlete participation can change.
Avinash Sable and India’s track challenge
Avinash Sable is another major medal contender.
The steeplechase star enters the Games with experience at the highest international level.
Parul Chaudhary will also be among the Indian athletes carrying significant expectations after her previous Asian Games success.
India’s distance runners have improved considerably over recent years, making athletics much more than a field-event story.
Shooting remains a major medal opportunity
Shooting should again become one of India’s biggest medal-producing disciplines.
India has developed exceptional depth across rifle, pistol and shotgun events.
Individual and team competitions create multiple medal opportunities.
That makes shooting particularly important during the opening phase of India’s medal campaign.
The events will take place at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery.
PV Sindhu leads badminton interest
Badminton remains another high-interest sport for Indian audiences.
PV Sindhu is among the biggest names associated with India’s badminton challenge, alongside Lakshya Sen and other leading players.
India will compete against traditionally powerful Asian badminton nations including China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia.
Singles, doubles and team competitions can all influence India’s medal tally.
Hockey teams chase another major result
India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams will carry substantial expectations.
Asian Games hockey has additional importance because continental success can have consequences beyond the medal table, depending on the qualification framework in place for future global competitions.
The hockey tournament will be staged at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium.
India’s men’s and women’s teams will face some of Asia’s strongest hockey nations.
India targets more success in archery
Archery has developed into another strong Indian medal sport.
India will compete in both recurve and compound events.
Men’s, women’s, team and mixed competitions create several medal possibilities.
India enjoyed major success in compound archery at Hangzhou and will aim to maintain that position in Japan.
Boxing brings another medal opportunity
India will also field a strong boxing challenge.
Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain is among the headline names associated with the squad.
Asian boxing remains extremely competitive, particularly with strong teams from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China and other continental powers.
A deep run through the preliminary rounds could substantially strengthen India’s medal total.
Wrestling remains central to India’s campaign
Wrestling has historically been one of India’s strongest Asian Games disciplines.
Aman Sehrawat and Antim Panghal are among the prominent names in the Indian challenge.
India will compete across freestyle and Greco-Roman categories.
The sport can produce several medals within a short period, making wrestling days particularly important for India’s position on the medal table.
Mirabai Chanu adds weightlifting star power
Mirabai Chanu will be another major Indian name to watch.
Weightlifting remains one of Asia’s most competitive sports, with athletes from China, North Korea and several other nations producing world-class performances.
The weightlifting competition will take place at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Center.
For India, Mirabai’s performance will attract enormous attention.
Kabaddi teams defend Asian Games gold
Kabaddi carries a different level of expectation in India.
Both Indian men’s and women’s teams will enter the competition as defending Asian Games champions.
Anything short of a medal would represent a major disappointment.
Iran remains one of India’s strongest rivals in men’s kabaddi, while other Asian nations continue to improve rapidly.
The kabaddi tournament will be held at Tokai Citizen Gymnasium.
Esports returns as a medal sport
Esports will again feature as a medal discipline.
India has received clearance for a 15-member esports squad competing across four titles.
The Indian squad is scheduled to compete in:
League of Legends
Pokémon UNITE
eFootball
Puyo Puyo Champions
Esports competition is scheduled between September 23 and October 2.
The discipline offers INVC NEWS an important opportunity to reach younger sports and gaming audiences during the Games.
New sports expand Asian Games 2026
Aichi-Nagoya will feature an unusually broad sporting program.
Among the disciplines on the official program are:
Athletics
Aquatics
Archery
Badminton
Baseball and Softball
Basketball and 3×3 Basketball
Boxing
Breaking
Cricket
Cycling
Esports
Football
Golf
Gymnastics
Hockey
Judo
Kabaddi
Karate
Padel
Rowing
Rugby Sevens
Sailing
Shooting
Skateboarding
Sport Climbing
Squash
Surfing
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling
Wushu
The full Games program contains 43 sports.
Asian Games 2026 venues
The organisers have designated 53 competition venues across the wider Games program.
Athletics will take place at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Cricket will use Korogi Athletic Park.
Badminton is scheduled for Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.
Hockey will take place at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium.
Kabaddi is assigned to Tokai Citizen Gymnasium.
Several esports, fencing, breaking and skateboarding competitions will use Aichi Sky Expo.
The geographic spread means events will not be limited to central Nagoya.
How to follow India every day
For Indian viewers, daily schedules will become more useful than the overall calendar once competition intensifies.
Japan Standard Time is 3 hours 30 minutes ahead of India Standard Time.
Therefore, many morning sessions in Japan will begin early in India.
INVC NEWS should update this page every night with the next day’s confirmed India schedule in IST.
That will allow readers to use one URL throughout the Games rather than searching for a different schedule page every morning.
India Asian Games medal tally
The medal table will become one of the highest-search-value elements once the Games begin.
INVC NEWS will track:
India Gold Medals
India Silver Medals
India Bronze Medals
India Total Medals
India Medal-Tally Position
The previous Games provide a demanding benchmark.
India’s historic 107-medal performance at Hangzhou transformed expectations.
Aichi-Nagoya will show whether Indian sport can sustain that momentum.
Biggest Indian athletes to watch
Among the Indian names likely to generate substantial attention are:
Neeraj Chopra — Athletics
PV Sindhu — Badminton
Lakshya Sen — Badminton
Lovlina Borgohain — Boxing
Mirabai Chanu — Weightlifting
Avinash Sable — Athletics
Parul Chaudhary — Athletics
Aman Sehrawat — Wrestling
Antim Panghal — Wrestling
India’s cricket, hockey, shooting, archery and kabaddi teams will also carry significant medal expectations.
Final participation should always be checked against official start lists because injuries, withdrawals and team changes can occur before competition.
Asian Games 2026 could become India’s biggest sports story of September
The scale of the Asian Games makes this more than another tournament.
For more than two weeks, Indian athletes will compete across dozens of disciplines, creating daily medal events and several high-profile clashes.
Cricket will attract mass audiences.
Athletics and shooting could drive the medal count.
Badminton, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting bring individual star power.
Hockey and kabaddi carry major national expectations.
For India, the central question is straightforward:
Can the country surpass its record Asian Games medal performance?
The answer will unfold in Aichi-Nagoya from September 19 to October 4.
