Asian Para Games 2026: Can India Reach 100 Medals?

India will begin its Asian Para Games 2026 medal campaign in Aichi-Nagoya with a 168-athlete contingent spread across 11 sports, chasing another top-five finish despite a reduced squad and tighter quotas across the programme.

The medal events officially begin on Monday, while Indian competitors in para badminton and para table tennis have already started their preliminary-round campaigns. India arrives in Japan after its best-ever Asian Para Games return in Hangzhou, where it won 111 medals, including 29 golds. Matching that total will be considerably harder this time, but the depth across athletics, archery, badminton and other disciplines keeps a 100-medal target in focus.

The key challenge is scale. India had sent 123 athletes in para athletics at the 2022 Asian Para Games, but has 62 in the sport this time after available quotas were nearly halved. The team will also be without chess and canoeing, sports that delivered 12 medals in Hangzhou, and is not fielding teams in taekwondo or rowing.

Athletics and archery set the foundation

Para athletics remains India’s strongest potential source of medals even with the smaller delegation. The projection is for 15 to 20 medals on the track, with Simran Sharma, Preethi Pal and Deepthi Jeevanji among the athletes expected to lead the challenge. Dilip Gavit, Rakeshbhai Bhatt, Pranav Desai and Sharath Shankarappa are also identified as leading contenders.

In the field events, India is favoured to take all three high-jump gold medals through Nishad Kumar, Shailesh Kumar and Praveen Kumar. Dharambir, Pranav Soorma and Amit will seek to repeat their club-throw podium sweep. Nishad Kumar could also contend in the long jump after recently taking up the event, alongside defending champion Solairaj Dharmaraj.

The men’s javelin throw, shot put and discus throw could collectively produce a double-digit medal tally, with Sumit Antil, Rinku and Sachin Khilari among those in action. Bhagyashri Jadhav, Nimisha Suresh and Karamjyoti provide further medal possibilities in women’s field events.

Para archery is also expected to be one of India’s biggest contributors. Individual world champions Toman Kumar and Sheetal Devi headline the compound entries, where India is considered a medal favourite across all five categories. Harvinder Singh and Bhawna Choudhary lead the recurve challenge, while Swati Chaudhary gives India representation in women’s W1 events for the first time.

Badminton, shooting and depth across the squad

India’s para badminton team won 21 medals in Hangzhou, though stronger competition makes a repeat less likely. The women’s SL3 and SL4 singles categories, plus men’s doubles, are expected to be tougher, with South Korea presenting a significant obstacle. Even so, India is projected to reach double figures, driven by its depth in men’s singles. Pramod Bhagat and Nitesh Kumar are among the leading names in SL3, while Suhas Yathiraj and Naveen Sivakumar feature in SL4.

Shooting offers further opportunity but also a difficult field. Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal lead the rifle contingent, which is targeting two to three medals. Manish Narwal, Rudransh Khandelwal and Amir Bhat are central to the pistol challenge, with Rubina Francis aiming to defend her women’s air-pistol medal. Chinese, South Korean and Iranian competition could make it difficult for India to repeat its six-medal shooting haul from Hangzhou.

Elsewhere, India’s 16-member swimming team is targeting four to five medals. Himanshu Nandal is competing in five events and is ranked in the top three or four in each, while Ravi Budigina, Suyash Jadhav, Swatik Patel and Niranjan Mukundan are also part of the group. Baby Sahana Ravi is one win away from confirming a medal, while Bhavina Patel and Subham Wadhwa are a second-seeded pair with podium potential.

What India needs for a landmark total

Powerlifting and judo could add valuable medals at the margins. Kasthuri Rajamani is India’s strongest powerlifting prospect with the third-best season-best mark in the 67kg category, while Ashok and Parmjeet Kumar are also in contention. In judo, Kapil Parmar and Kokila Kaushiklate are both seeded second in their categories.

India’s route to 100 medals depends on its established medal sports delivering despite fewer entries, while athletes across swimming, shooting, powerlifting and judo convert their opportunities. The Hangzhou total may be difficult to reproduce, but a broad group of Paralympic champions, world champions and seeded contenders gives the contingent a realistic chance to remain among Asia’s leading para-sport nations.