Asian Games 2026: Know the Lesser-Known Sports India Will Compete In
The Asian Games 2026 will feature some of the lesser-known sports of the world. Check the sports India will compete in and know about Indian participation in them.
The Asian Games 2026 is less than two weeks away, with fans eagerly waiting to see their favourite players in action. This year’s exciting tournament is set to kick off on September 19 at Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.
Asian Games features some of the world’s lesser-known competitions, making for a platform that showcases various sporting talents from around the world. This year too, several such events across multiple categories will take place with Indian participants competing in many of them.
What Are Unusual Sports India Will Compete in at Asian Games 2026?
This edition of Asia’s biggest multi sport competition will see 6 sports making their debut. However, there are many sports that have been part of the competition for a long time but are not widely known among fans. Below is the list of such sports with Indian participants.
1. Esports: A gaming discipline where either individual players or groups compete against each other in video games that are strategic and involve real-time fighting such as League of Legends, eFootball, and Pokémon UNITE.
It involves fast reflexes, strategy and communication between teammates. It is extremely popular around the world, especially in East Asia (South Korea, China, Japan), North America, and Western Europe.
| Game Title / Category | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| League of Legends | Akshaj Shenoy (Captain), Ahmed Shahid Israr, Akash Shandilya, Mihir Ranjan, Rahul Bisht, Sanidhya Malik |
| Pokémon UNITE | Adnan Mohammed Badshah (Captain), Deepkumar Vipulbhai Patel, Dipjyoti Laxman Nath, Reuben Godfrey Fernandes, Rudra Narayan Nayak, Sai Krishna Nalluri |
| eFootball | Chinmay Sahoo, Danial Shakeel Patel |
| Puyo Puyo Champions | Paritosh |
2. Kurash: Kurash is a very old Central Asian style of wrestling that involves trying to throw the opponents down on the mat with jacket grips in the standing position. No ground wrestling or tripping is involved in this sport.
It is the national sport of Uzbekistan and it is popular not only in Central Asia but also in Turkey, Iran and parts of Eastern Europe.
| Category / Weight Class | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Men's Kurash (-66kg, +90kg) | Vipin Kumar (-66kg), Vishal (+90kg), Yash Kumar (+90kg) |
| Women's Kurash (-57kg, -78kg) | Bharti (-57kg), Sangita Balhara (-57kg), Pincky Chauhan (-78kg) |
3. Wushu: Wushu is a martial art that originated in China and is practiced by two styles: Taolu and Sanda. Taolu consists of choreographed routines and weapons with acrobatics. Sanda consists of punches, kicks and throws.
Wushu is rooted in Chinese culture and is popular in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe.
| Discipline / Weight Class | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Men's Sanda (56kg, 75kg) | Aryan (56kg), Vikrant Baliyan (75kg) |
| Women's Sanda (52kg, 60kg) | Aparna (52kg), Divyanshi (60kg) |
| Men's & Women's Taolu | Suraj Singh Mayanglambam (Changquan), Nyeman Wangsu (Changquan), Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam (Nanquan & Nandao) |
4. Canoe Slalom: Canoe Slalom is an exciting water sport where participants race through an obstacle course of hanging gates on turbulent water. The racers compete in canoes or kayaks and need to navigate through the gates correctly. The sport involves quick reflexes and precise boat handling skills.
The sport is especially popular in nations like France, Slovakia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. There are a lot of followers of the sport in Australia and North America.
| Discipline / Category | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Men's & Women's Kayak / Canoe Cross | Hitesh Kewat, Pradhyumna Singh Rathod, Shikha Chouhan, Pallavi Jagtap, Rina Sen |
5. Canoe Sprint: Canoe Sprint is a racing sport on flat water where athletes race using canoes and kayaks for set distances. The race distances for the events are 200 meters, 500 meters, and 1000 meters. The sport involves explosive strength, proper rhythm and endurance.
There are many fans of the sport in Eastern Europe, Germany, Hungary, Scandinavia and Oceania.
| Category | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Men's Kayak / Canoe | Prohit Baroi, Prasanna Kumar Chempadiyil Sathyaprakash, Naocha Singh Laitonjam, Gyaneshwor Singh Philem, Raju Rawat, Harshwardhan Singh Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, Oinam Arun Singh |
| Women's Kayak / Canoe | Neha Devi Leichonbam, Soniya Devi Phairembam, Megha Pradeep, Pooja, Parvathy Geetha, Dhanamanjuri Devi Khwairakpam |
6. Ju-Jitsu: It is a combat sport originating from Japan and a traditional martial art. The sport involves joint locks, chokeholds and grappling. The focus of the sport is on utilizing the strength of the opponent rather than solely relying on strikes. The sport is practiced in Japan, Brazil, North America, the UAE and Western Europe.
| Category | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Men's Contact / Ne-Waza | Anupama Swain, Kamal Singh, Tarun Yadav, Uma Maheshwar Reddy, Abdul Khader, Rohi Dahiya |
| Women's Contact / Ne-Waza | Akanksha Shinde, Anwesha Deb, Navya Pandey, Nikita Choudhary |
7. Sepaktakraw: It is an Asian sports discipline which is sometimes referred to as "kick volleyball". The players hit a woven ball using their legs, knees, chest, and head over the net. The hands are forbidden.
This game is extremely popular in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar. It also enjoys popularity in the northeastern part of India.
| Category | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Men's Regu & Quadrant | Akash, Henary Singh Wahengbam, John Meitei Laishram, Malemnganba Singh Sorokhaibam, Seetarama Raju, Arun, Niken Singh Khangembam, Elangbam Haripyari |
| Women's Regu & Quadrant | Oinam Chaoba Devi, Maipak Devi Ayekpam, Priya Devi Elangbam, Leirentombi Devi Khangembam, Seema, Ronita Devi Leichonbam |
8. Bridge: It is a card game played in teams of four people from two sides. The game is played using 52 cards. Strategy, communication, calculation and memory play the main role in this game contrary to others which are based mostly on luck. This game is popular in Western Europe, North America, China, and India.
| Event Category | Indian Athletes (Complete Squad) |
| Open Team | Sumit Mukherjee, Debabrata Majumder, Jaggy Shivdasani, Rajeshwar Tewari, Sandeep Thakral, Raju Tolani |
| Women's Team | Asha Sharma, Puja Batra, Bharati Dey, Alka Kshirsagar, Vasanti Shah, Kalpana Gurjar |
| Mixed Team | Kiran Nadar, B Satyanarayana, Himani Khandelwal, Rajeev Khandelwal, Marianne Karmarkar, Sandeep Karmarkar |
Meanwhile, India have already won medals in 5 of these sports. Most of them have come in Wushu with 10 medals. The expectations will once again be high from the Indian contingent.
Varun Verma is an education and sports journalist with over three years of experience in journalism, with a strong focus on cricket . He has previously worked with SportsYaari and CricketTimes.com, where he developed a strong news sense and a knack for storytelling while covering breaking news and major sporting events. He holds a PG Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi. Beyond sports, his interests include geopolitics, Indian polity and government policies. Inspired by the grit and passion of Ben Stokes, he strives to bring the same depth in his life.
For inquiries or professional insights, you can reach him directly at varun.verma@jagrannewmedia.com
