India’s campaign at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, hits a critical stretch on Saturday, September 26, with athletes stepping into medal contention across multiple disciplines including athletics, shooting, and high-stakes team finals. Both the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams square off against Iran in their respective gold-medal showdowns, anchoring a packed day of competition that begins in the early morning hours local time.
Morning Opens with Surfing, Marathon, and Decathlon Heats
Competition gets underway early at 3:58 am with surfing heats in men’s and women’s shortboards featuring Kamali Prakash, Sugar Shanti Gayen, and Sivaraj Babu. Shortly after, at 4:00 am, Sawan Barwal and Kartik Karkera contest the men’s marathon final, representing India’s first major medal opportunity on the track. Archery qualifications follow at 4:30 am with recurve and compound individual and team events featuring archers like Dhirag Bommadevara and Jyothi Surekha Vennam.
The rigorous multi-event men’s decathlon begins at 5:30 am with Thowfeeq Noushad in the 100-meter heat 1, followed quickly by Tejaswin Shankar in heat 2 at 5:43 am. Shankar and Noushad return for the long jump at 6:15 am and the shot put at 7:55 am. Badminton action starts at 6:00 am as Lakshya Sen meets Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the men’s singles second round. Concurrently, equestrian riders Gaurav Pundir, Hriday Vipul Chheda, Shruti Vora, and Jai Sud contest the dressage second individual qualifier, while the women’s foil fencing team faces Indonesia in the round of 16.
Shooting, Table Tennis, and Mid-Morning Field Events
Shooters Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen, and Vidarsa Vinod take to the range at 6:30 am for the women’s 50-meter rifle 3-positions individual qualification and team final. Table tennis player Yashaswini Ghorpade meets Japan’s Miwa Harimoto in a round 3 singles match at the same hour. Over at the canoe sprint venue, Harshwardhan Shaktawat races in the men’s kayak single 500m semifinal at 6:30 am, with Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar following in the kayak double semifinal at 6:50 am. Esports action features Paritosh playing Dongshin Kang in a Puyo Puyo Champions quarterfinal at 6:45 am.
Athletics resumes later in the morning with Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan competing in women’s long jump qualification groups A and B at 8:15 am, followed by Animesh Kujur in the men’s 200m heats at 8:32 am. Raju Rawat and Neha Devi Leichonbam contest the mixed canoe double 500m final at 8:20 am, a confirmed medal event.
Gold-Medal Kabaddi Finals and Afternoon Racket Sports
The spotlight shifts to team sports at 9:30 am as the Indian women’s kabaddi team meets Iran in the gold-medal match. Later in the afternoon at 2:30 pm, the men’s kabaddi team replicates the fixture against Iran in their own tournament final. Squash action unfolds throughout the midday schedule, featuring Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar in the mixed doubles semifinal at 8:30 am, Anahat Singh against Japan’s Satomi Watanabe in the women’s singles semifinal at 10:35 am, and Abhay Singh facing Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan in the men’s singles semifinal at 11:15 am.
Boxing bouts begin at 10:15 am when Jadumani Singh meets the Philippines’ Carlo Paalam in the men’s 55kg round of 16. Kapil Pokhariya follows at 10:45 am against Iran’s Sam Estaki in the 90kg division, and Priya faces South Korea’s Oh Yeonji in the women’s 60kg bout at 2:15 pm. Badminton singles continue through the midday block with Unnati Hooda, Ayush Shetty, and PV Sindhu taking the court against international opponents, while the women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand faces Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto and Yuki Fukushima.
Closing Out Day Eight on the Pitch
The day concludes for Indian team sports on the turf as the men’s hockey team meets Japan in a Pool A match scheduled for 1:30 pm. Fans can follow official tournament updates and live results through organizing committee portals as Indian competitors push to elevate the national medal count in Aichi-Nagoya.
