INDIA go into the 20th Asian Games with confidence of breaching the 100-medal mark once again, hoping to build on their record performance in Hangzhou three years ago as they push to cement their place among Asia's leading sporting nations.
The 107 medals India won in Hangzhou in 2023 marked a big jump from the 70 they claimed in Jakarta-Palembang in 2018, and made them the first nation outside China, Japan and South Korea to reach three figures at an Asiad.
The Asian Games 2026 will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
India's ambitions in Japan are underpinned by hopes of becoming the fourth Asian country to host a Summer Olympics, with 2036 firmly in their sights.
"Our target is 2036 – by the time we host the Olympics, we need to be firmly established on the world stage," sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya said last week.
"I have complete faith that our contingent will perform well at the Asian Games and increase the pride of the country."
A second consecutive 100-medal haul appears a reasonable goal, even with star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra missing out on a hat-trick of Asian Games golds due to a torn ligament.
India focus on shooting and athletics
Shooting and athletics are expected to be high-yielding once again, having delivered seven and six gold medals respectively out of India's 28 golds in Hangzhou.
India swept compound archery in Hangzhou, and anything fewer than five golds in Nagoya would be seen as falling short of their own high standard.
Cricket brings some of the brightest hopes. India's men are Twenty20 world champions, while the women's team celebrated their Asia Cup triumph in Dubai last Sunday (13), adding to the optimism heading into the Games.
India will also be confident of winning both field hockey golds, after the women's team finished fifth at the World Cup in August – the best showing by an Asian side.
Further medal prospects are expected from kabaddi, squash, wrestling and weightlifting, though aquatics remains an area for improvement.
In weightlifting, Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu is chasing the one major accolade still missing from her decorated career. Despite winning three Commonwealth Games golds, injuries and dips in form left her without an Asian Games medal from her two previous attempts.
Now fully fit, the 32-year-old said she is not taking a medal in the 49kg category for granted, in what she expects to be an Olympic-level competition.
"The strongest lifters in my weight category come from Asia and you will get a glimpse of the Olympics in Japan," she said in the buildup to the Games.
