Asian Games September 23: Mirabai Chanu, Manu Bhaker Lead India’s Medal Hopes

The Indian contingent is set for another action-packed day at the Asian Games 2026, with several prominent athletes taking the field in Aichi-Nagoya on Wednesday, September 23.

With India competing across 102 events in 17 sports, the focus will be on adding more medals to the country’s tally on Day 4.

Two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker will be among the biggest names in action. Bhaker will compete in the women’s 10m air pistol qualification alongside Suruchi Inder Singh and Esha Singh. The three shooters will also be part of the team event, while the individual final awaits those who make the cut.

Weightlifting will provide another major medal opportunity as Mirabai Chanu begins her campaign in the women’s 49kg category. The Olympic medallist will be looking to secure her maiden Asian Games medal. Gyaneshwari Yadav will represent India in the women’s 53kg competition later in the day.

In badminton, India’s men’s team will take on China in the semifinal after securing a medal with a quarterfinal victory over Japan. The squad features Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Tharun Mannepalli and the doubles combination of Satwik and Chirag. A victory would take India into the gold medal match.

Wushu will also be in the spotlight, with Roshibina Devi competing in the women’s 60kg Sanda semifinal. She will face Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas, with a place in the final at stake.

The Indian women’s hockey team will look to continue its strong start to the tournament when it faces Thailand in a Pool B encounter. India have won both of their opening matches and will aim to maintain their unbeaten run.

Indian athletes will also be involved in fencing and rowing events. Naorem Mina Devi and Ashitha Stalinraj are scheduled to compete in the women’s foil, while Karan Singh and Gisho Nidhi K.P. will feature in the men’s sabre. Indian rowers will also be involved in multiple heats across different disciplines.

With medal events in shooting and weightlifting alongside important knockout fixtures in badminton and wushu and a hockey clash, September 23 is set to be another significant day for India at the Asian Games.

Asian Games 2026: India’s Full Schedule for September 23

The Indian contingent will be involved in a packed schedule at the Asian Games 2026 on Wednesday, September 23. From shooting and weightlifting to badminton, hockey, fencing and wushu, Indian athletes will compete across several disciplines, with a number of medal events also lined up.

Early Morning Events

• 5:30 AM: Soft Tennis – Jay Meena vs Sherwin Nuguit (Philippines), men’s singles quarterfinal.
• 5:30 AM: Sepaktakraw – India vs Philippines, men’s team regu, Group B preliminary match.
• 5:40 AM: Rowing – Balraj Panwar, men’s single sculls Heat 2.
• 6:00 AM: Rowing – Satnam Singh and Salman Khan, men’s double sculls Heat 3.
• 6:15 AM: Shooting – Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Inder Singh and Esha Singh, women’s 10m air pistol individual and team qualification.
• 6:30 AM: Shooting – Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Bhavtegh Singh Gill and Mairaj Ahmad Khan, men’s skeet qualification, Day 3.
• 6:30 AM: Shooting – Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon and Maheshwari Chauhan, women’s skeet qualification, Day 3.
• 6:30 AM: Canoe Sprint – Harshwardhan Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam and Arun Singh, men’s K4 500m Heat 1.
• 6:30 AM: Equestrian – Ashish Limaye and Fouaad Mirza, eventing individual cross-country final, Day 2.
• 6:30 AM: Table Tennis – Harmeet Desai/Yashaswini Ghorpade vs Ismael Mohamed-Ali Fathimath (Maldives), mixed doubles Round of 32.
• 6:30 AM onwards: Fencing – Naorem Mina Devi and Joys Ashitha Stalinraj, women’s foil pool bouts.
• 6:42 AM: Swimming – Rohit Benedicton and Sajan Prakash, men’s 100m butterfly Heat 2.
• 6:50 AM: Canoe Sprint – Megha Pradeep, women’s canoe single 200m Heat 1.
• 6:50 AM: Rowing – Jaswinder Singh and Nitin Kumar, men’s pair Heat 2.
• 7:03 AM: Swimming – Aneesh Sunil Kumar Gowda and Vedaant Madhavan, men’s 200m freestyle Heat 2.
• 7:10 AM: Canoe Sprint – Parvathy Geetha/Phairembam Soniya Devi, women’s kayak double 500m Heat 1.
• 7:10 AM: Rowing – Gurbani Kaur, Poonam, Tendenthoi Devi Haobijam and Aleena Anto, women’s four Heat 1.
• 7:10 AM: Table Tennis – Manush Shah/Diya Chitale vs Chanul Kulappuwawadu/Bimandee Swarn (Sri Lanka), mixed doubles Round of 32.

Morning Sessions

• 8:15 AM onwards: Fencing – Gisho Nidhi K.P. and Karan Singh, men’s sabre pool bouts.
• 8:30 AM: Soft Tennis – Jay Meena, men’s singles semifinal, subject to qualification.
• 8:30 AM: Kabaddi – India vs Iran, women’s Group A preliminary match.
• 8:30 AM onwards: Boxing – Ankush vs Hamsa Vogel (Bahrain), men’s 80kg Round of 16.
• 9:00 AM: Shooting – Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Inder Singh and Esha Singh, women’s 10m air pistol final, subject to qualification.
• 9:30 AM: Fencing – Naorem Mina Devi and Joys Ashitha Stalinraj, women’s foil Round of 32, subject to qualification.
• 9:45 AM: Kabaddi – India vs Bangladesh, men’s Group A preliminary match.
• 9:50 AM: Fencing – Gisho Nidhi K.P. and Karan Singh, men’s sabre Round of 32, subject to qualification.
• 10:00 AM: Weightlifting – Mirabai Chanu, women’s 49kg final, Group A.
• 10:05 AM: Fencing – Naorem Mina Devi and Joys Ashitha Stalinraj, women’s foil Round of 16, subject to qualification.
• 10:15 AM: Table Tennis – Manush Shah/Diya Chitale and Harmeet Desai/Yashaswini Ghorpade, mixed doubles Round of 16.
• 10:25 AM: Fencing – Gisho Nidhi K.P. and Karan Singh, men’s sabre Round of 16, subject to qualification.
• 10:30 AM: Squash – Abhay Singh vs Arkaradet Arkarahirunya (Thailand), men’s singles Round of 32.
• 10:40 AM: Canoe Sprint – Prasanna Kumar CS/Prohit Baroi, men’s kayak double 500m Heat 2.
• 11:00 AM: Canoe Sprint – Megha Pradeep/L Neha Devi, women’s canoe double 500m Heat 2.
• 11:00 AM: Fencing – Women’s foil and men’s sabre quarterfinals, subject to qualification.
• 11:00 AM: Shooting – Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon and Maheshwari Chauhan, women’s skeet final, subject to qualification.
• 11:15 AM: Squash – Tanvi Khanna vs Kim Dami (South Korea), women’s singles Round of 32.
• 11:20 AM: Rowing – Rohit/Ujjwal Kumar Singh, men’s lightweight double sculls Heat 1.
• 11:30 AM: Badminton – India vs China, men’s team semifinal.
• 11:30 AM: Hockey – India vs Thailand, women’s Pool B match.
• 12:00 PM: Squash – Veer Chotrani vs Mohamed Shamil Mukthar Wakeel (Sri Lanka), men’s singles Round of 32.

Afternoon Medal Events

• 12:10 PM: Rowing – Arvind Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Navdeep Singh and Jakar Khan, men’s quadruple sculls Heat 2.
• 12:15 PM: Soft Tennis – Jay Meena, men’s singles gold medal match, subject to qualification.
• 12:20 PM: Rowing – Vipul Ghurde, Saurav Kumar, Babu Lal Yadav and Yogesh Kumar, men’s four Heat 1.
• 12:30 PM: Shooting – Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Bhavtegh Singh Gill and Mairaj Ahmad Khan, men’s skeet final.
• 12:50 PM onwards: Fencing – Naorem Mina Devi and Joys Ashitha Stalinraj, women’s foil semifinals, subject to qualification.
• 1:30 PM: Weightlifting – Gyaneshwari Yadav, women’s 53kg final, Group A.
• 1:30 PM onwards: Fencing – Karan Singh and Gisho Nidhi K.P., men’s sabre semifinals, subject to qualification.
• 1:38 PM: Swimming – Rohit Benedicton and Sajan Prakash, men’s 100m butterfly final, subject to qualification.
• 1:54 PM: Swimming – Aneesh Sunil Kumar Gowda and Vedaant Madhavan, men’s 200m freestyle final, subject to qualification.
• 2:10 PM: Fencing – Women’s foil medal bouts, subject to qualification.
• 2:30 PM: Fencing – Men’s sabre medal bouts, subject to qualification.
• 2:30 PM onwards: Wushu – Roshibina Devi vs Thania Kusumaningtyas (Indonesia), women’s Sanda 60kg semifinal.
• 3:50 PM: Esports – Daniel and Chinmay Sahoo, eFootball final, subject to qualification.

With several medal events and key knockout fixtures on the schedule, September 23 could be an important day for India’s campaign at the Asian Games 2026.