New Delhi
The Indian contingent for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has been expanded to 768 members after the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports added 11 athletes to the roster on Thursday.
The contingent now comprises 503 athletes 269 men and 234 women besides 246 team officials and supporting staff and 19 contingent staff. India will compete across 36 disciplines at the Asian Games.
The latest additions cover athletics, mixed martial arts and surfing. Surfing will make its Asian Games debut, with Kishore Kumar, Sivaraj, Kamali and Sugar Shanti selected to represent India. Mixed martial arts is also making its debut, with Varun Sanyal included in the Indian squad.
Six athletes Praveen Kumar, Harita Bhadra, Kiran Pahal, Asha Ilango, Sindhushree Ganesha and Sanya Yadav have also been added to the athletics roster.
The Athletics Federation of India also finalised a 77-member squad. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Yashvir Singh replaced Neeraj Chopra, who has been ruled out for the season due to injury. Chopra had initially been selected and will now miss the opportunity to defend his Asian Games javelin titles.
Rohit Yadav joins Singh in the men’s javelin event. Four individual champions from Hangzhou Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Parul Chaudhary and Annu Rani remain in contention to defend their titles.
Tejas Shirse and Abhishek Pal were also omitted from the athletics squad. Shirse has been dealing with stress fractures, while Pal was dropped after receiving a notice from NADA over an apparent anti-doping violation.
- On squad expansion: India’s contingent has grown to 768 members, including 503 athletes across 36 disciplines.
- On new sports: Surfing and mixed martial arts will both make their Asian Games debuts for India.
- On athletics: Yashvir Singh replaces injured Neeraj Chopra in the javelin squad.
- On returning champions: Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Parul Chaudhary and Annu Rani can defend their Hangzhou titles.
