The Indian flag entered Nagoya’s Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Saturday evening in the hands of two athletes from very different sporting worlds.
One was Manu Bhaker, already one of the most recognisable faces of Indian Olympic sport after winning two bronze medals at Paris 2024.
Beside her was kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat, drafted in as male flagbearer after shot put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor was unable to take part in the parade because his ceremonial kit had not reached him in Japan.
It was an imperfect beginning to a Games that India hopes could become another landmark in its sporting rise.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito formally opened the 20th Asian Games on September 19. The competition runs until October 4 across Aichi, Nagoya and other Japanese venues, bringing together athletes from 45 countries and regions across 43 sports.
For India, the headline target is obvious.
Three years ago in Hangzhou, the country crossed 100 medals at an Asian Games for the first time, collecting 107 medals and 28 golds. It was a dramatic leap from the 70 medals won at Jakarta-Palembang in 2018 and made India the first nation outside China, Japan and South Korea to break the three-figure barrier at an Asiad.
Now comes the difficult part.
Doing it again.
But the more interesting story in Japan is not whether India's cricket teams can win gold.
India arrives with extraordinary cricket depth. Expectations will inevitably be high.
The real measure of the next fortnight lies elsewhere.
Can India's shooters convert Olympic-era confidence into another giant Asian Games haul?
Can Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defend the badminton title that once seemed almost unimaginable for India?
Can Mirabai Chanu finally win the Asian Games medal missing from one of Indian weightlifting's greatest careers?
Can Indian athletics remain powerful without Neeraj Chopra?
Can archery translate its dominance in compound events into a pathway toward Los Angeles 2028?
And can India's wrestlers, boxers and hockey teams demonstrate that the country's sporting depth is expanding rather than depending on a handful of familiar disciplines?
The most revealing Indian medal table in Nagoya may not be the final total. It may be the number of different sports capable of producing world-class performances.
That is why these Asian Games matter far beyond cricket.
India arrives with 503 athletes — but without its biggest athletics star
India's final contingent contains 503 athletes — 269 men and 234 women — across 36 disciplines, following several late additions. That is smaller than the 661-athlete team India sent to Hangzhou, but still one of the country's largest multi-sport delegations.
One enormous name, however, is missing.
Neeraj Chopra will not defend his javelin title.
The two-time Asian Games champion's attempt to win a third successive gold was ended by a torn ligament, removing arguably India's most internationally proven track-and-field athlete from the Games.
It is a significant loss.
But it also creates one of the most compelling questions of Aichi-Nagoya:
How deep is Indian athletics without Neeraj?
That question will be answered by a remarkably broad team.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor chases something rare
Tajinderpal Singh Toor did not get the ceremonial beginning he expected.
The two-time Asian Games shot put champion was originally selected alongside Manu Bhaker as India's opening-ceremony flagbearer.
Then came the logistical embarrassment.
His official ceremonial kit had not reached Japan in time, forcing India to replace him at the last minute with Pawan Sehrawat. Reuters reported that Toor learned of his flagbearer role only shortly before the ceremony, while the kit remained unavailable to him.
The more important part of Toor's Asian Games still lies ahead.
He is attempting to win a third consecutive Asian Games shot put gold.
At a Games missing Neeraj Chopra, Toor has suddenly become one of the most important veterans in India's athletics campaign.
His story also represents something India increasingly needs: athletes capable of remaining at the top of an Asian discipline across multiple Games cycles.
Parul Chaudhary could be everywhere
Few members of India's athletics team have a programme quite like Parul Chaudhary.
She is entered in the women's 1500m, 5000m and 3000m steeplechase.
That is an extraordinary workload.
Chaudhary emerged as one of India's breakout stars in Hangzhou, winning gold in the 5000m and silver in the steeplechase.
Nagoya therefore provides a different test.
She is no longer arriving as a surprise.
She arrives as an established continental contender carrying expectations across several demanding endurance events.
The depth of Asian women's distance running makes those races particularly valuable indicators of India's progress.
Avinash Sable's return carries a different kind of drama
Avinash Sable enters the Asian Games after a long injury interruption.
The steeplechaser only recently returned to domestic competition following calf and hamstring problems and is entered in his specialist 3000m steeplechase.
Sable has spent years trying to break one of the most entrenched patterns in international distance running: East African dominance of the steeplechase.
At Birmingham in July, he again demonstrated his ability to challenge elite opposition, and his return gives India's athletics programme another compelling storyline.
His Asian Games campaign will therefore be about more than a medal.
It will offer an important indication of how close he is to full competitive condition with the Los Angeles Olympics less than two years away.
Jyothi Yarraji, Sreeshankar and a much deeper athletics team
India's track-and-field strength no longer depends on one or two names.
Jyothi Yarraji is entered in the women's 100m hurdles.
Murali Sreeshankar returns in the men's long jump.
Praveen Chithravel will compete in the triple jump.
Tejaswin Shankar is entered in the decathlon.
India also has substantial representation in the 400m relays, throws and middle-distance events.
Athletics supplied six of India's 28 gold medals in Hangzhou.
Matching that contribution without Neeraj would be one of the clearest signs that India's success in athletics is becoming structural rather than dependent on exceptional individuals.
Shooting may again be the engine room of India's medal tally
If one sport powered India's record Hangzhou Games more than any other, it was shooting.
India won 22 shooting medals in Hangzhou, including seven golds.
Nagoya arrives after another transformation of Indian shooting.
Young athletes have emerged.
Olympic confidence has grown.
Sports science has become more sophisticated.
And at the centre of the public attention stands Manu Bhaker.
She entered the opening ceremony not merely as an Asian Games competitor but as the Indian athlete who became the first from the country to win two medals at a single Olympic Games, taking bronze in both the women's 10m air pistol and mixed-team event at Paris 2024.
Bhaker's role as flagbearer symbolised how profoundly the status of shooting has changed in India.
It is no longer a niche sport that occasionally produces an Olympic surprise.
It is expected to deliver.
India's shooters are training their nervous systems
One of the most interesting stories behind the shooting team has nothing to do with the guns themselves.
India's coaches have introduced biofeedback training to help shooters control the physiological effects of pressure.
At the national camp in Bhopal, shooters including Sonam Maskar trained while wearing sensors monitoring heart rate, body temperature and stress indicators.
The objective was to teach athletes to control breathing and reduce their heart rate during the small window in which a shot must be executed.
The Indian Express reported that athletes were being taught to wait for the body to settle — in some cases bringing the pulse below specified thresholds — before firing.
That is a fascinating example of where elite sport is heading.
Technique is no longer enough.
The athlete's nervous system itself becomes something that can be measured and trained.
At this level, the difference between gold and fifth place may be a movement too small for a spectator to see — a heartbeat, a breath or the fraction of a millimetre by which a barrel moves.
India believes science can help control it.
Archery has suddenly acquired Olympic consequences
Indian compound archery dominated Hangzhou.
The country swept the compound gold medals available there, producing one of the most complete performances by an Indian team in any sport. Reuters notes that India won all five compound archery golds at the previous Games.
But Nagoya is different.
Compound archery is no longer merely an Asian Games specialty.
A mixed-team compound event will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.
That changes everything.
And for India, one name immediately stands out.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam.
She won three gold medals at the previous Asian Games and arrives as the most experienced member of India's women's compound team.
She has also won mixed-team silver medals at the World Championships in 2021 and 2025.
The women's compound team in Nagoya also includes Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep, while India's men's compound squad has changed significantly.
Former world champion Ojas Deotale did not qualify through the selection trials; the men's team instead features Sahil Jadhav, Kushal Dalal and T Ganesh Mani Ratnam.
That makes this Asian Games both a title defence and a generational transition.
The compound mixed-team title carries an LA 2028 prize
There is an additional reason to watch Jyothi and India's compound archers closely.
The Asian Games mixed-team compound competition is connected to qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, with the gold-medal route carrying an Olympic quota implication.
That changes the psychology of the event.
At previous Asian Games, compound success produced continental glory.
In Nagoya, it can help shape India's Olympic programme.
The opposition remains formidable.
South Korea's archery system is one of the strongest in world sport, while Chinese Taipei has deep compound expertise.
Indian archery's true test will be whether Hangzhou represented a brilliant tournament or the beginning of a sustained era.
Satwik-Chirag arrive as champions — and in form
If there is one non-cricket Indian event likely to produce appointment viewing, it is men's badminton doubles.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are defending Asian Games champions.
Three years ago, their gold in Hangzhou was historically significant: it was India's first Asian Games badminton gold.
They arrive in Japan with something even more valuable than reputation.
Form.
The pair recently won the China Masters Super 750, one of the biggest titles on the BWF World Tour, and remain among the strongest doubles combinations in international badminton.
Their partnership has now lasted roughly a decade.
Chirag recently described the relationship as carrying a “sense of belonging,” reflecting the unusual continuity behind one of Indian badminton's most successful combinations.
Their title defence will nevertheless be brutal.
China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan all possess elite doubles combinations.
There are few soft matches in Asian badminton.
India men's badminton team could hit Japan early
The men's team event adds another layer.
India won silver at the previous Asian Games and arrives with a deep squad featuring Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Satwik and Chirag, among others.
The draw is uncomfortable.
India begins against Bangladesh but could meet host nation Japan in the quarter-finals.
That potential tie could include Lakshya Sen against Kodai Naraoka and Satwik-Chirag against Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
If India progresses, China or South Korea could await later in the same half of the draw.
There may be no sport at these Games where an Indian medal requires negotiating such a dense concentration of world-class opposition.
Which is precisely why a deep run would matter.
PV Sindhu is still there — but Indian badminton is no longer only Sindhu
PV Sindhu is part of India's women's team and is entered in singles.
But perhaps the more important development is that Indian badminton's story no longer begins and ends with her.
The women's contingent also includes Unnati Hooda, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand, Tanisha Crasto and a group of younger players.
Treesa and Gayatri have become one of India's most interesting doubles combinations, while the overall women's team represents a generational transition.
For years, Indian badminton success was heavily dependent on extraordinary singles players.
Nagoya offers another opportunity to see whether India can develop the team and doubles depth that powers countries such as China, Japan and South Korea.
Mirabai Chanu has almost everything — except this
Some sporting stories are interesting precisely because of what is missing.
Mirabai Chanu has won an Olympic silver medal.
She has been a world champion.
She has won Commonwealth Games titles.
But the Asian Games medal has repeatedly escaped her.
At 32, she arrives in Nagoya for another attempt in the 49kg category. Reuters reported that injuries and fluctuations in form prevented her from reaching the podium in her previous two Asian Games appearances.
There is a reason.
Women's weightlifting in Asia is extraordinarily strong.
China, North Korea and other Asian programmes contain athletes capable of producing Olympic-winning totals.
Mirabai herself described the competition bluntly:
“The strongest lifters in my weight category come from Asia.”
She said the field in Japan would offer “a glimpse of the Olympics.”
That may make her event one of India's most fascinating medal tests.
An Asian Games medal for Mirabai would fill one of the few remaining gaps in a remarkable career.
Wrestling has an Olympic medallist at its centre
Indian wrestling has been one of the country's most reliable Olympic sports.
Nagoya will show whether that tradition is being refreshed.
Aman Sehrawat, India's Paris Olympic bronze medallist, is entered in the men's freestyle 57kg category.
The women's squad includes Antim Panghal, the two-time World Championships bronze medallist who reclaimed the 53kg Asian Games place through domestic trials earlier this year.
India will also field wrestlers across freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions.
But the standard is severe.
Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and several other Asian nations possess world-class wrestling systems.
India has not won an Asian Games wrestling gold since 2018.
Breaking that drought would therefore carry significance beyond the colour of one medal.
Greco-Roman wrestling remains India's unfinished project
India's wrestling reputation is built overwhelmingly on freestyle.
Greco-Roman has been much harder.
That is why athletes such as Sunil Kumar and a new group emerging from coaching centres in Haryana deserve attention.
The story of coach Kuldeep Singh is illustrative.
After struggling to understand why Japanese Greco-Roman techniques were so effective, he travelled to Japan independently to study their training methods. His programme now feeds several wrestlers into India's national structure.
This is what sporting development often looks like away from medal ceremonies.
One coach learns.
One training centre improves.
A generation gradually becomes more competitive.
Nagoya will show whether some of that investment is beginning to translate internationally.
Boxing faces a tougher examination than the Commonwealth Games
Indian boxing enjoyed an exceptional Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
But Asian boxing is a different examination.
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, Japan and several other countries operate some of the strongest boxing programmes in the world.
India's Asian Games team includes Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain in the women's 75kg category, alongside Sakshi Chaudhary, Preeti Pawar, Priya Ghanghas and Parveen Hooda.
The men's team includes Sachin Siwach, Sumit Kundu, Ankush, Narender Berwal and others.
Significantly, the final squad does not include Nikhat Zareen, despite her status as a two-time world champion and earlier appearances in India's 2026 boxing programme.
That places even greater attention on Lovlina and India's newer generation.
Commonwealth medals established confidence.
Asian Games medals would provide a much tougher benchmark.
Hockey carries Olympic consequences
Indian hockey arrives with medal ambitions in both competitions.
The men's team is captained by Harmanpreet Singh and includes experienced players such as Amit Rohidas, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Mandeep Singh.
The women's team is led by Salima Tete, with Savita Punia, Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur and others among the squad.
Reuters identified both Indian hockey teams among the country's strongest gold-medal prospects, noting that the women's team finished fifth at the World Cup in August — the best finish among Asian teams.
The significance of Asian hockey goes beyond medals.
Continental competitions remain important in the qualification landscape and in establishing where teams stand against regional rivals such as Japan, South Korea, China and Pakistan.
For the men's side especially, Asian dominance has historically been expected.
Modern Asian hockey is no longer that simple.
Kabaddi will be expected to deliver — which is exactly what makes it dangerous
Kabaddi occupies an unusual position in India's Asian Games story.
India is historically the sport's dominant nation.
That means anything short of gold is treated almost as failure.
Pawan Sehrawat's appearance as opening-ceremony flagbearer placed the sport prominently in the opening-night narrative.
India's men's team includes Sehrawat, Arjun Deshwal, Aslam Inamdar and other Pro Kabaddi stars, while the women's team will also defend India's strong continental tradition.
Iran has transformed the competitive landscape over the past decade, however, and kabaddi is no longer an automatic medal.
Sometimes the most difficult expectation in sport is not to create history.
It is to repeat what everyone assumes should happen.
The smaller sports may tell us even more about India
India's sporting growth will not be measured only through the sports it already understands.
The 503-athlete contingent includes competitors in surfing, mixed martial arts, esports, fencing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian sport and other disciplines.
Some are unlikely to dominate the medal table.
That is not necessarily the point.
A genuinely broad sporting nation must eventually become competitive in disciplines that do not yet have household-name athletes.
Aichi-Nagoya itself reflects that changing sporting landscape.
The 2026 programme includes newer additions such as mixed martial arts, padel, surfing, virtual taekwondo and teqball, while esports remains part of the Games.
India has entered athletes in several of these newer events.
Their results may receive less attention than a shooting final or hockey semifinal.
But they reveal where the next generation of Indian sport is beginning.
The Games have not begun smoothly
The opening ceremony attempted to reset the mood after a difficult build-up.
Organisers have dealt with complaints involving accommodation, transport and registration.
Reuters reported that athletes and officials were housed across hotels, temporary wooden container accommodation and even a cruise ship, while several delegations encountered logistical problems.
India arranged separate accommodation for its cricket team amid concerns.
Indian athletes have also reported long airport waits and transport difficulties. Some rowers encountered lengthy delays while trying to access accommodation, while the last-minute Toor flagbearer episode became another visible organisational embarrassment.
Manu Bhaker nevertheless urged Indian athletes not to allow the disruption to consume their attention.
Her message ahead of competition was simple: stop dwelling on complaints and make the most of the rare opportunity to compete at an Asian Games.
It is an athlete's response to an organiser's problem.
And from Sunday, the medals begin deciding what people remember.
Hangzhou changed what India believes is possible
Before Hangzhou, crossing 100 medals sounded ambitious.
India finished with 107.
That performance reshaped expectations.
It also changed the meaning of the Asian Games for Indian sport.
A medal can no longer be judged only by whether it exists.
The level of competition matters.
A breakthrough matters.
Olympic relevance matters.
India has historically won the greatest number of its Asian Games medals in athletics and has accumulated 778 medals across the first 19 editions of the Games.
But the country's ambition is now considerably larger.
India is openly working toward becoming a stronger Olympic nation and is pursuing an ambition to host the 2036 Summer Olympics.
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya described 2036 as the longer-term target, saying India needs to be firmly established on the world stage by then.
That makes Aichi-Nagoya more than another medal hunt.
It is a progress report.
The real benchmark is Los Angeles 2028
The next Summer Olympics are less than two years away.
Several Asian Games competitions therefore provide an unusually useful preview.
Compound archery has direct Los Angeles relevance.
India's shooters are part of the Olympic medal programme.
Wrestling remains one of India's most important Olympic disciplines.
Badminton is globally competitive.
Weightlifting exposes Mirabai to essentially Olympic-calibre Asian opposition.
Athletics provides a test of depth.
Hockey tests whether both national teams can remain internationally relevant.
That is why simply reproducing 107 medals would not answer every question.
A country could theoretically accumulate large numbers in its traditional strengths without getting materially closer to becoming an Olympic power.
The more important evidence will come from sports where Asia itself represents the highest level in the world.
Badminton.
Weightlifting.
Shooting.
Archery.
Wrestling.
Table tennis.
Many combat sports.
In those events, an Asian Games podium can be extraordinarily difficult.
Beyond cricket, these are the stories that could define India's Games
Cricket will inevitably dominate television attention when India's teams enter the knockout stages.
But India already knows it is a world cricket power.
Aichi-Nagoya can tell the country something it does not yet know.
Whether Indian sport is becoming genuinely broad.
Watch Manu Bhaker and the shooters attempting to reproduce Hangzhou's extraordinary success.
Watch Jyothi Surekha Vennam shoot for an Asian title with Olympic implications.
Watch Satwik and Chirag try to defend India's first badminton gold.
Watch Mirabai Chanu attempt to finally claim the continental medal absent from her collection.
Watch Tajinderpal Singh Toor chase a third successive shot put title.
Watch Parul Chaudhary take on three endurance events.
Watch Avinash Sable test his repaired body.
Watch Aman Sehrawat carry an Olympic medal into an unforgiving Asian wrestling field.
Watch Lovlina Borgohain and a changing boxing team confront opposition far stronger than most Commonwealth competition.
And watch the young athletes in sports India rarely talks about.
Because somewhere in those less familiar events may be the first chapter of a sporting story Indians will know very well by 2028 or 2032.
Hangzhou proved India could win more than 100 Asian Games medals. Nagoya has to answer the harder question: how many of those medal-winning sports are becoming genuinely world-class?
For the next two weeks, the scoreboard will provide one answer.
Los Angeles 2028 will eventually provide another.
