Asian Para Games 2026: India Finalise 275-Member Contingent Seven Days Before Opening Ceremony – Check Full List

India's preparations for the 2026 Asian Para Games have entered their final week with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports approving a 275-member contingent for the October 18-24 event in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The approval comes just seven days before the opening ceremony, with the government clearing 166 athletes to compete in 10 disciplines.

The contingent comprises 111 men and 55 women athletes, alongside 94 team officials and support staff and 15 contingent staff members, according to the approval order accessed by Outlook India.

Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) CEO Rahul Swami has been appointed Chef de Mission. Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Pramod Bhagat and para-table tennis player Bhavina Patel will lead India's contingent as flag-bearers at the opening ceremony.

The Ministry has cautioned that the number of participants who eventually travel to Japan could be lower than the approved figure.

It has also instructed the national sports federations to ensure that athletes are medically fit before departure. Approval for athletes and officials in boccia is to be issued separately, subject to eligibility.

India's Approved Contingent In Numbers For Asian Para Games 2026

The government's approval covers 275 personnel, of whom 166 are athletes. Team officials and support staff account for another 94 members, while 15 will serve as contingent staff.

The approval order covers India's participation in 10 disciplines. The Ministry's earlier communications, dated October 1 and October 10, contained the names of athletes and officials in eight disciplines. The latest order includes the name-wise details for the two additional sports, para-badminton and para-table tennis.

However, the approved strength should not be treated as the final number of people travelling to Japan, as the Ministry has explicitly stated that the actual participation could be lower.

Asian Para Games 2026: Sport-Wise Breakdown of India's Athletes (As per the Official Document)

Para-table tennis (10 athletes)

Female (6): Bhavinaben Hasmukhbhai Patel, Sonalben Manubhai Patel, Baby Sahana Ravi, Ekta Bhyan, Prachi Pandey, Savita Vittal Ajjanakatti.

Male (4): Dattaprasad Jotiram Chougule, Sandeep Dangi, Jehan Dorab Madan, Shubham Wadhwa.

Para-badminton (28 athletes)

Female (11): Manisha Ramadass, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Alphia James, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Mandeep Kaur, Neeraj, Shanthiya Vishwanathan, Kanak Singh Jadaun, Manasi Girishchandra Joshi, Pallavi Kaluvehalli Manjunathareddy, Sanjana Kumari.

Male (17): Naveen Sivakumar, Nitesh Kumar, Krishna Nagar, Pramod Bhagat, Sukant Kadam, Surya Kant Yadav, Ruthick Ragupathi, Sivarajan Solaimalai, Abu Hubaida, Prem Kumar Ale, Sudarsan Muthusamy Saravanakumar, Umesh Vikram Kumar, Haris Mythili Srikumar, Hardik Makkar, Abhijeet Sakhuja, Rakesh Pandey, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj.

Para-archery (11 athletes)

Female (5): Sheetal Devi, Payal Nag, Bhawna, Pooja, Swati Chaudhary.

Male (6): Harvinder Singh, Vijay Sundi, Toman Kumar, Shyam Sunder Swami, Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari, Vinayak Amol Breed.

Para-athletics (62 athletes)

Female (16): Anjanaben Rohitbhai Bumbadiya, Deepthi Jeevanji, Nimisha Chakkungalparambil Suresh, Preeti Pal, Simran, Soumya, Jayanti Behera, Tejalben Amraji Damor, Radha Venkatesh, Amisha Rawat, Bhagyashri Madhavrao Jadhav, Karamjyoti, Rakshitha Raju, Suchitra Parida, Suvarna Raj, Ravanni Valasanaini.

Male (46): Ajay Kumar, Akira Nandan Banothu, Devender Kumar, Haney, Dilip Mahadu Gavit, Mahendra Gurjar, Manjeet, Mohammed Basil Morssinganakathi, Nishad Kumar, Parveen, Pranav Soorma, Rakeshbhai Bhatt, Ram Ratan Singh, Rinku, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Shailesh Kumar, Sharath Makanahalli Shankarappa, Sumit, Ajeet Singh, Ayush Verma, Dharambir, Hokato Hotozhe Sema, Mohd Yasser, Navdeep, Parmod, Pranav Prashant Desai, Praveen Kumar, Rakesh, Ravi Rongali, Solairaj Dharmaraj, Sujith Mandalamkunnath Sivadasan, Varun Singh Bhati, Vishesh, Amit Kumar, Anubhav Choudhary, Banti, Bhavikkumar Dineshbhai Bharwad, Pardeep Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Rahul, Sandeep, Sandip Sanjay Sargar, Soman Rana, Sukhchain, Parveen Kumar, Praveen Sharma.

Para-judo (7 athletes)

Female (5): Renuka Narayan Salave, Kokila, Gulshan, Vrushali Ashok More, Dimple.

Male (2): Kapil Parmar, Bijender.

Para-swimming (16 athletes)

Female (2): Vaishnavi Vinod Jagtap, Devanshi Satija.

Male (14): Kapil Kumar, Ajay Hindurao Bhosale, Ravi Veera Venkata Bhavani Budigina, Abdul Quadir Indori, Suyash Narayan Jadhav, Chaitanya Vishwas Kulkarni, Rohit Kumar, Gopichand Linguta, Vanga Niranjan Mukundan, Tejas Nandakumar, Himanshu Nandal, Swatik Patil, Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh, Jahangir Molla.

Para-shooting (13 athletes)

Female (6): Avani Lekhara, Mona Agarwal, Bhakti Sharma, Rubina Francis, Shrishti Arora, Sumedha Pathak.

Male (7): Anandha Krishnan H, Amir Ahmad Bhat, Manish Narwal, Nihal Singh, Rakesh Nidagundi, Rudransh Khandelwal, Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar.

Para-powerlifting (8 athletes)

Female (4): Suman Devi, Kasthuri Rajamani, Jaspreet Kaur, Seema Rani.

Male (4): Ashok, Jhandu Kumar, Manish Kumar, Parmjeet Kumar.

Blind football (10 athletes)

Male (10): Boje Marbom, Klingson Marak, Pradeep Patel, Sahil, Shivam Singh, Sovendra Singh, Tushar Kumar, Vishnubhatejuba Vaghela, Aditya Sajwan (goalkeeper), Sujith Puthankattunikarath Sasi (goalkeeper).

Para-cycling (1 athlete)

Male (1): Arshad Shaik.

Asian Para Games 2026: What Delayed The Finalisation Of India's Contingent?

The full contingent approval came amid questions about the time taken to complete the selection and clearance process. With the Games approaching, the delay had also drawn attention to complaints over athlete selection and pending court proceedings in three disciplines.

At the Indian team's send-off ceremony in New Delhi on October 8, para-shooters Akash and Sandeep Kumar protested against the selection process, alleging favouritism and manipulation of scores.

Jai Prakash Nautiyal denied the allegations, while PCI president Devendra Jhajharia defended the selection process.

PCI CEO Rahul Swami told Outlook India that the committee had sent its recommendations well before the final approval but had not received a formal explanation for the delay.

"We sent the recommendations a long time ago," Swami told Outlook India a day before the contingent list was finalised.

"We have not been formally informed of any reason for the delay," he added, pointing to the government's role in examining the details before clearing the contingent.

"The government has to go through and see all the pros and cons. If somebody has filed a case, the government has to study that," Swami said.

Swami had expected the final list to be released on October 12. He also said that preparations for the team's departure were in progress and that the Final Delegation Registration Meeting with the local organising committee in Japan had been completed.

A Ministry source, however, offered a different account of the timeline, pointing to the date on which the PCI submitted its recommendations and the complaints that followed.

"31 August was the Cutoff date for APC, but PCI only submitted the names on 13th Sept and there were many complaints post that as well. But SAI and ministry worked hard to clear the first list on the 1st of oct and a copy of which was also shared with PCI on the same date," the source told Outlook India.

The Ministry's communication further stated that legal matters were still pending in three disciplines, with court directions awaited.

"While issues concerning three disciplines remain sub judice before various courts and directions from the Hon'ble Court are awaited," the source stated.

While Swami said the PCI had not been formally informed of the reasons for the delay, the Ministry source cited the late submission of names and subsequent complaints as factors in the clearance process.

India Face A Challenge To Match Hangzhou Medal Haul

India will head to Aichi-Nagoya with a smaller approved athlete contingent than the one that competed at the previous Asian Para Games in Hangzhou in 2023.

For that edition, 309 athletes, including 196 men and 113 women, were approved to compete across 17 disciplines. The latest approval covers 166 athletes in 10 sports.

India finished the Hangzhou Games with a record 111 medals. The reduced athlete strength and participation across fewer disciplines present a challenge as India seek to replicate that performance in Japan.

The eventual number of participants could also fall below the approved total, as specified in the Ministry's order.