IOA Announces 524-Strong Contingent for Asian Games 2018

The Asian Games will be held from 18 August to 2 September this year.

Hockey captain Sardar Singh was India’s flag-bearer at the 2014 Asian Games

(Photo: Reuters)

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has announced a 524-member contingent for the upcoming Asian Games, to be held from 18 August to 2 September, this year. The host country will be Indonesia, with venues centred in and around Jakarta and Palembang.

The Indian contingent will be smaller than at the previous two Asian Games, and include 277 men and 247 women across 36 disciplines.

With the notable exclusion of football, the sports disciplines that India will be participating in are Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Bowling, Canoe-Kayak (Sprint), Canoe-Kayak (Slalom), Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics, Golf, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Karate, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Roller Skating, Rowing, Sailing, Sambo, Sepaktakraw, Shooting, Squash, Aquatics - Swimming, Aquatics - Diving, Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Soft Tennis, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling and Wushu.

Athletics will have the most number of participants at 52, with the hockey squads coming a close second with 36 contestants.

The Indian men’s hockey team.(Photo Courtesy: HockeyIndia on Twitter)

In June 2018, the IOA had already sent the Sports Ministry a long-list of 2370 athletes and officials, which has further been sifted to arrive at the current list. The contingent now includes only 524 athletes who have qualified, down from 541 in the previous Asian Games at Incheon 2014.

However, the number of participatory disciplines have increased, from last time’s 28 to 36. The eight added teams being sent include Karate, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Roller Skating, Sambo, Sepaktakraw, Triathlon and Soft Tennis.

I would like to wish all the 524 members of the Indian contingent the very best for the 18th Asian Games to be held at Jakarta Palembang 2018. The contingent has been selected keeping in mind the Indian Olympic Association’s long term vision of preparing and encouraging the most deserving athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics based on them attaining qualification criteria.

Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General IOA

Indian athletes are aiming at improving their previous medal haul of 57, which consisted of 11 Gold, 10 Silver and 36 Bronze medals.