Upgraded 18 October 2026 at 18:42 IST
The contingent size is substantially smaller sized in this edition when compared to the previous edition kept in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, where India fielded 303 professional athletes.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday extended his finest dreams to the Indian contingent for the Asian Para Games occurring in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, stating that their “grit, dedication and indomitable spirit inspire 140 crore Indians”Shuttler Pramod Bhagat and sprinter Simran Sharma led the Indian contingent as flag-bearers at the opening event of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games, held at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya on Sunday.
Publishing on X, PM Modi composed, “As the Asian Para Games 2026 begin in Aichi-Nagoya, conveying my best wishes to the Indian contingent. India is immensely proud of our phenomenal para-athletes. Their grit, dedication and indomitable spirit inspire 140 crore Indians. May they compete with confidence and give their very best.”
Previously, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has actually cleared 168 professional athletes for the upcoming 5th Asian Para Games 2026, to be kept in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. An overall contingent of 281 members has actually been cleared, consisting of 168 professional athletes, 98 group officials/supporting personnel and 15 contingent personnel.
The contingent size is considerably smaller sized in this edition when compared to the previous edition kept in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, where India fielded 303 professional athletes. This edition of the Para Asian Games will be held from October 18 to 24. Bhagat, among India’s many embellished para badminton gamers, has actually won 6 Asian Para Games medals in between 2014 and 2023: 2 Gold and 4 bronze. Simran is a Paralympics 2024 bronze medalist in the females’s 200 m T2 competitors, while she has 2 Asian Para Games silvers in the 100 m T2 and 200 m T2 occasions.
The contingent size is considerably smaller sized in this edition when compared to the previous edition kept in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, where India fielded 303 professional athletes. This edition of the Para Asian Games will be held from October 18 to 24. The sharp drop in the contingent size is owing to the lack of disciplines such as Blind Chess, Para-Rowing and Para-Canoeing in which India had actually fielded professional athletes, along with the rigorous quota limitations by the Organising Committee in numerous sporting disciplines. In para sports, the biggest contingent that India fielded last time, of 123 professional athletes, the quota constraints have actually reduced the number to 62 professional athletes, based on a news release. Of the 168 professional athletes, 112 are male and 56 are female, and they will complete throughout 11 disciplines.
India will be heading into the Aichi-Nagoya 3 years after their best-ever Asian Para Games project, having actually clinched 111 medals, consisting of 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze at Hangzhou. The tally was method above India’s previous finest of 72 medals from the 2018 edition in Jakarta.
Para sports worked as the greatest factor to the tally back in 2023, with 55 medals, consisting of 18 gold medals and is when again anticipated to illuminate the crowd in Japan. Two-time Paralympic champ Sumit Antil will be intending to seal his tradition as one of the nation’s all-time greats by protecting his males’s javelin toss F64 title.
Other super stars from para-sports such as Paralympic champs Dharambir Nain, Praveen Kumar and Navdeep Singh are likewise in the para sports team together with Paralympic medalists Preethi Pal, Deepthi Jeevanji, Nishad Kumar, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari and Hokato Hotozhe Sema, with all of them strong medal competitors in their own right.
India will likewise be fielding a strong para-shooting contingent led by Avani Lekhara, a two-time Paralympic champ and the safeguarding Asian Para Games champ in the females’s 10m air rifle classification. A popular name in para archery will be 19-year-old Sheetal Devi, who will go back to protect her females’s substance title after protecting 2 medals in the 2023 edition, consisting of one in the blended group. She likewise won a silver in the doubles occasion.
Paralympic champ Nitesh Kumar and Pramod Bhagat will spearhead a strong para-badminton group including skills like Paralympic silver medallists Suhas Yathiraj and Thulasimathi Murugesan and bronze medallist Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan. India’s success has actually increased considerably at the Asian Para Games over the last few years. From 14 medals at Guangzhou 2010, 33 at Incheon 2014 and 72 at Jakarta 2018, crossing the 100-medal mark 3 years back produced a significant minute in Indian sports. The competitors will be staged throughout 19 places, with the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium working as the main arena.
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