Sports News | Asian Para Games 2026: Sumit Antil, Sheetal Devi, Avani Lekhara Spearhead Indian Challenge
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has cleared 168 athletes for the upcoming 5th Asian Para Games 2026, to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. A total contingent of 281 members has been cleared, comprising 168 athletes, 98 team officials/supporting staff and 15 contingent staff.
Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], October 17 (ANI): Indian will kickstart its Asian Para Games campaign with a short contingent, but still with an eye on unparalleled glory from Sunday onwards, with Pramod Bhagat and Bhavina Patel serving as the flag-bearers in the opening ceremony.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has cleared 168 athletes for the upcoming 5th Asian Para Games 2026, to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. A total contingent of 281 members has been cleared, comprising 168 athletes, 98 team officials/supporting staff and 15 contingent staff.
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The contingent size is significantly smaller in this edition when compared to the previous edition held in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, where India fielded 303 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 absence of disciplines such as Blind Chess, Para-Rowing and Para-Canoeing in which India had fielded athletes, as well as the strict quota restrictions by the Organising Committee in many sporting disciplines. In para athletics, the largest contingent that India fielded last time, of 123 athletes, the quota restrictions have brought down the number to 62 athletes, as per a press release. Of the 168 athletes, 112 are male, and 56 are female, who will compete across 11 disciplines.
Some competitions like blind football, para badminton, para table tennis and boccia will start their preliminary rounds before the opening ceremony, as per Olympics.com.
India will be heading into the Aichi-Nagoya three years after their best-ever Asian Para Games campaign ever, having clinched 111 medals, including 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze at Hangzhou. The tally was way above India's previous best of 72 medals from the 2018 edition in Jakarta.
Para athletics served as the biggest contributor to the tally back in 2023, with 55 medals, including 18 gold medals and is once again expected to light up the crowd at Japan. Two-time Paralympic champion Sumit Antil will be aiming to seal his legacy as one of the country's all-time greats by defending his men's javelin throw F64 title.
Other superstars from para-sports such as Paralympic champions Dharambir Nain, Praveen Kumar and Navdeep Singh are also in the para athletics squad along with Paralympic medalists Preethi Pal, Deepthi Jeevanji, Nishad Kumar, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari and Hokato Hotozhe Sema, with all of them strong medal contenders in their own right.
India will also be fielding a strong para-shooting contingent led by Avani Lekhara, a two-time Paralympic champion and the defending Asian Para Games champion in the women's 10m air rifle category.
A prominent name in para archery will be 19-year-old Sheetal Devi, who will return to defend her women's compound title after securing two medals in 2023 edition, including one in the mixed team. She also won a silver in the doubles event.
Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Pramod Bhagat will spearhead a strong para-badminton group featuring talents like Paralympic silver medallists Suhas Yathiraj and Thulasimathi Murugesan and bronze medallist Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan.
India's success has risen substantially at the Asian Para Games in recent years. From 14 medals at Guangzhou 2010, 33 at Incheon 2014 and 72 at Jakarta 2018, crossing the 100-medal mark three years back made for a monumental moment in Indian sports.
The competitions will be staged across 19 venues, with the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium serving as the primary arena.
*India squad for Asian Para Games 2026-Blind football: Aditya Sajwan, Boje Marbom, Klingson Marak, Pradeep Patel, Sahil, Shivam Singh, Sovendra Singh, Sujith Puthankattunikarath Sasi, Tushar Kumar, Vishnubhatejuba Vaghela.
-Boccia: Anjali Devi, Sachin Chamaria.
-Para archery: Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari, Bhawna, Harvinder Singh, Payal Nag, Pooja, Sheetal Devi, Shyam Sunder Swami, Swati Chaudhary, Toman Kumar, Vijay Sundi, Vinayak Amol Breed.
-Para athletics: Ajay Kumar, Ajeet Singh, Akira Nandan Banothu, Amisha Rawat, Amit Kumar, Anjanaben Rohitbhai Bumbadiya, Anubhav Choudhary, Ayush Verma, Banti, Bhagyashri Madhavrao Jadhav, Bhavikkumar Dineshbhai Bharwad, Deepthi Jeevanji, Devender Kumar, Dharambir, Dilip Mahadu Gavit, Haney, Hokato Hotozhe Sema, Jayanti Behera, Karamjyoti, Mahendra Gurjar, Manjeet, Mohammed Basil Morssinganakathi, Mohd Yasser, Navdeep Singh, Nimisha Chakkungalparambil Suresh, Nishad Kumar, Pardeep Kumar, Parmod, Parveen, Parveen Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Pranav Prashant Desai, Pranav Soorma, Praveen Kumar, Praveen Sharma, Preethi Pal, Radha Venkatesh, Rahul, Rakesh, Rakeshbhai Bhatt, Rakshitha Raju, Ram Ratan Singh, Ravanni Valasanaini, Ravi Rongali, Rinku, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Sandeep, Sandip Sanjay Sargar, Shailesh Kumar, Sharath Makanahalli Shankarappa, Simran, Solairaj Dharmaraj, Soman Rana, Soumya, Suchitra Parida, Sujith Mandalamkunnath Sivadasan, Sukhchain, Sumit Antil, Suvarna Raj, Tejalben Amraji Damor, Varun Singh Bhati, Vishesh.
-Para badminton: Abhijeet Sakhuja, Abu Hubaida, Alphia James, Hardik Makkar, Haris Mythili Srikumar, Kanak Singh Jadaun, Krishna Nagar, Manasi Girishchandra Joshi, Mandeep Kaur, Manisha Ramadass, Naveen Sivakumar, Neeraj, Nitesh Kumar, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Pallavi Kaluvehalli Manjunathareddy, Pramod Bhagat, Prem Kumar Ale, Rakesh Pandey, Ruthick Ragupathi, Sanjana Kumari, Shanthiya Vishwanathan, Sivarajan Solaimalai, Sudarsan Muthusamy Saravanakumar, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, Sukant Kadam, Surya Kant Yadav, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Umesh Vikram Kumar.
-Para cycling: Arshad Shaik.
-Para judo: Bijender, Dimple, Gulshan, Kapil Parmar, Kokila, Renuka Narayan Salave, Vrushali Ashok More.
-Para powerlifting: Ashok, Jaspreet Kaur, Jhandu Kumar, Kasthuri Rajamani, Manish Kumar, Parmjeet Kumar, Seema Rani, Suman Devi.
-Para shooting: Amir Ahmad Bhat, Anandha Krishnan H, Avani Lekhara, Bhakti Sharma, Manish Narwal, Mona Agarwal, Nihal Singh, Rakesh Nidagundi, Rubina Francis, Rudransh Khandelwal, Shrishti Arora, Sumedha Pathak, Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar.
-Para swimming: Abdul Quadir Indori, Ajay Hindurao Bhosale, Chaitanya Vishwas Kulkarni, Devanshi Satija, Gopichand Linguta, Himanshu Nandal, Jahangir Molla, Kapil Kumar, Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh, Ravi Veera Venkata Bhavani Budigina, Rohit Kumar, Suyash Narayan Jadhav, Swatik Patil, Tejas Nandakumar, Vaishnavi Vinod Jagtap, Vanga Niranjan Mukundan.
-Para table tennis: Baby Sahana Ravi, Bhavinaben Hasmukhbhai Patel, Dattaprasad Jotiram Chougule, Ekta Bhyan, Jehan Dorab Madan, Prachi Pandey, Sandeep Dangi, Savita Vittal Ajjanakatti, Shubham Wadhwa, Sonalben Manubhai Patel.
India's schedule for Asian Para Games:
*Blind footballOctober 16-17, 19-21 and 23*BocciaOctober 17 and 19-24*Para archeryOctober 19-24*Para athleticsOctober 19-23*Para badmintonOctober 16-17 and 19-23*Para cyclingOctober 19-23*Para judoOctober 19-21*Para powerliftingOctober 19-24*Para shootingOctober 19-20 and 22-23*Para swimmingOctober 19-23*Para table tennisOctober 16-17 and 19-23. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)