The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) confirmed a 758-member strong Indian contingent while traveling to South Africa for the 2026 Asian Games, which will take place in Japan's Aichi-Nagoya from 19th September to 4th October. This will include 503 athletes and 246 support staff members, as India aims to build on their brilliant show in the previous edition. The MYAS has added 11 athletes to the original list of 492 athletes. This includes six additions in track and field, four surfers, and one mixed martial arts athlete being added to the tally. India will have participation in 35 of the 43 sports that are included in the event. The list of 503 sportspersons has 269 men and 239 women. Meanwhile, 246 support staff members have been approved, which includes 23 chief/deputy chief coaches and 150 coaches, along with other support personnel, medical staff, physiotherapists, psychologists, masseurs, managers, and technical staff. Most of whom are in athletics. Meanwhile, the Indian men's and women's have been provided with the entire regular support staff of 20 members. VVS Laxman and Amol Mazumdar will be the head coaches, respectively. The cricket contingent will have a total of 50 people. The Indian men's and women's hockey teams will have a combined 40-member contingent, which includes 14 support staff members Meanwhile, there are 19 Indian Olympic Associations (IOAs), which include Chief Medical Officer Dinshaw Pardiawala. Sahdev Yadav has been named as the Chef de Mission, while there are four deputy chefs de mission. However, there is a massive void in the final list with Neeraj Chopra missing, who has pulled out of the competition due to a ligament tear in his ankle. The two-time Olympic medalist had won the gold in both the 2018 and 2023 editions. India won 100 medals in the history of the games for the first time in 2023 at Hangzhou with 101 medals and is well placed to better this tally. Aayush Kataria is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Network with four years of experience, having started his career in the organisation. He is a key memb... View More