Asian Games 2026: Which states do India's athletes come from? Here's the breakdown
Haryana has the largest contingent.
India have sent 503 athletes to the Asian Games 2026 in Japan. The Games is being held in Aichi-Nagoya and run from September 19 to October 4, with athletes from 45 countries and regions taking part in 43 sports.
The Indian team also has some of its biggest names. Five of them have won Olympic medals: PV Sindhu (badminton), Manu Bhaker (shooting), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing), Aman Sehrawat (wrestling), and Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting).
India have fielded strong cricket squads for the Games, with Shreyas Iyer and Harmanpreet Kaur leading the men’s and women’s teams, respectively. Both teams won gold last time and want to reclaim it. The youngest player is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (15). The oldest is horse rider Shruti Vora, who is 55.
India’s history at the Asian Games
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The inaugural Asian Games were held in New Delhi in 1951, giving India a unique and enduring connection with the continental showpiece.
In recent years, India have done much better. In 2018, India won 70 medals. In 2022, at Hangzhou in China, India set a new record with 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze.
India sent 661 athletes to Hangzhou, and this time, 503 athletes have been sent. So, which states do these players come from?
Related: Top five medal contenders for India in athletics at Asian Games 2026
Haryana leads the chart
Haryana sends the most athletes, 96 in total, with 46 men and 50 women. That is about 1 in every 5 athletes. Haryana’s women alone account for 50 athletes — more than Maharashtra’s entire contingent of 49, with Maharashtra ranking second.
Tamil Nadu has 37 athletes, Punjab has 35, and Manipur has 34. Together, these five states send 251 athletes. That is about half of the whole team.
Manipur is the biggest surprise. It is a small state, but it sends more athletes than Uttar Pradesh (32) and Delhi (30).
No other North-East state comes close. Assam has three athletes. Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland have two each, and Tripura has one.
The gender-based split varies by state; of 503 athletes, 234 are women, approximately 46% of the entire contingent. Himachal Pradesh has seven women and only one man. Madhya Pradesh has 15 women and nine men.
Here’s the breakdown of that –
India’s Asian Games 2026 athletes by native state
| Rank | Native state | Men | Women | Total |
| 1 | Haryana | 46 | 50 | 96 |
| 2 | Maharashtra | 30 | 19 | 49 |
| 3 | Tamil Nadu | 22 | 15 | 37 |
| 4 | Punjab | 25 | 10 | 35 |
| 5 | Manipur | 16 | 18 | 34 |
| 6 | Uttar Pradesh | 22 | 10 | 32 |
| 7 | Delhi | 21 | 9 | 30 |
| 8 | Karnataka | 13 | 11 | 24 |
| 8 | Kerala | 16 | 8 | 24 |
| 8 | Madhya Pradesh | 9 | 15 | 24 |
| 11 | Gujarat | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 11 | Rajasthan | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| 11 | Telangana | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 14 | Odisha | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| 15 | Andhra Pradesh | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 15 | Himachal Pradesh | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 17 | West Bengal | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 18 | Jharkhand | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 18 | Uttarakhand | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 20 | Bihar | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 20 | Chandigarh | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 22 | Chhattisgarh | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 23 | Andaman and Nicobar | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | Assam | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 23 | Goa | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 26 | Arunachal Pradesh | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | Jammu and Kashmir | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 26 | Mizoram | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | Nagaland | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 30 | Puducherry | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Tripura | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 269 | 234 | 503 |
Which Indian state has sent the most athletes to the Asian Games 2026?
Haryana, with 96 athletes (46 men and 50 women). Maharashtra is second with 49, followed by Tamil Nadu (37), Punjab (35) and Manipur (34).
How many athletes are India sending to Aichi-Nagoya?
India’s official contingent is 503 athletes, subject to change. It includes 267 men and 232 women across 36 sports. Athletics has the biggest group with 74 athletes. Field hockey has 40, cricket and shooting have 30 each, and kabaddi has 24.
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