India’s Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games Schedule: Key Events and Athletes to Watch on October 20
India will aim to build on a strong opening day at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games after its athletes collected 11 medals, including four gold. The contingent returns to action on October 20 with a packed programme spanning para archery, athletics, badminton, table tennis, swimming, shooting, cycling, judo, powerlifting, boccia and goalball.
Several of India’s leading para athletes are expected to feature, including Bhavina Patel, Harvinder Singh, Sheetal Devi, Payal Nag, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Nitesh Kumar, Suhas Yathiraj and Nishad Kumar. With medal events, knockout matches and qualification rounds scheduled throughout the day, Indian supporters will have plenty to follow. All timings below are in Indian Standard Time (IST); events marked “subject to qualification” depend on earlier results.
Para archery: a busy day of individual and team competition
Para archery begins at 4:45 a.m. with the Round of 16, giving India a sizeable presence across recurve and compound events. Harvinder Singh faces Chinese Taipei’s Li Bing-yu in the men’s recurve, while Vijay Sundi takes on Tseng Lung-hui, also of Chinese Taipei. In the women’s recurve, Pooja meets Malaysia’s Loh Chi Hui and Bhawna faces Kazakhstan’s Marzhan Sabit.
India’s compound archers will also be in action. Toman Kumar meets Indonesia’s Arif Firmansyah and Shyam Sunder Swami takes on Japan’s Yuya Oe in the men’s draw. Sheetal Devi faces Hong Kong, China’s Yuen Wah Chan, while Payal Nag meets Chang I-fen of Chinese Taipei in the women’s competition. The quarterfinals are scheduled from 5:30 a.m., followed by semifinals from 6:15 a.m., subject to athletes progressing.
Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari is scheduled to compete in the W1 men’s quarterfinals at 5:30 a.m., with the semifinals beginning at 6:15 a.m. Swati Chaudhary is also listed in the W1 women’s semifinals, against an opponent yet to be confirmed.
Team events add another layer to the archery programme. At 8:45 a.m., Harvinder Singh and Bhawna take on Thailand in the recurve mixed-team quarterfinals. Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar are scheduled for the compound mixed-team quarterfinals. Later, India’s men’s recurve pair of Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi and compound duo of Toman Kumar and Shyam Sunder Swami are due to contest quarterfinals from 11:15 a.m. India also has women’s doubles semifinal entries in recurve and compound, while the W1 mixed team of Swati Chaudhary and Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari is scheduled from 12:30 p.m.
Athletics: finals across track and field
India’s athletics schedule features a mix of sprint races and field events. At 5:40 a.m., Ayush Verma and Pradeep Kumar compete in the men’s javelin throw F53/F54 final. Rakeshbhai Bhatt follows in the men’s long jump T37/T38 final at 5:45 a.m. Sujith Mandalamkunnath runs in the men’s 100m T13 heat at 6:02 a.m., with a final possible at 2:38 p.m. if he advances.
Jayanti Behera and Anjanaben Bumbadiya are listed for the women’s 200m T47 final at 6:23 a.m. Other early field events include Praveen Sharma in the men’s shot put F11 final and Parveen Kumar in the men’s discus F57 final. Deepthi Jeevanji is scheduled for the women’s 400m T20 final at 6:53 a.m.
The afternoon programme includes Suchitra Parida in the women’s javelin F55/F56 final at 1:35 p.m. Ram Ratan Singh and Pranav Soorma contest the men’s discus F51/52/53 final at 1:40 p.m. Mohammed Morssinganakath and Dilip Mahadu Gavit are due in the men’s 100m T47 heats from 3:10 p.m., while Preeti Pal is scheduled for the women’s 200m T35 final at 3:47 p.m. Nishad Kumar’s men’s high jump T47 final is set for 4:05 p.m., followed by the men’s discus F43/F44/F62/F64 final at 4:17 p.m., featuring Pardeep Kumar, Devender Kumar and Rakesh.
Badminton: Indian players face crucial knockout tests
Badminton will be one of the day’s major attractions, with Indian players competing in singles, doubles and mixed doubles across several sport classes. The schedule begins from 5:30 a.m. and includes group matches as well as quarterfinals and Round of 16 ties.
Among the headline matches, Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass are scheduled to meet Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom and Chanida Srinavakul in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 quarterfinals. Bhagat also faces Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara in a men’s singles SL3 quarterfinal. Nitesh Kumar is listed in another SL3 quarterfinal against fellow Indian Umesh Kumar, creating an all-Indian contest in that event.
Krishna Nagar has two scheduled matches: a mixed doubles SH6 group fixture with Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan against Chinese Taipei’s Yu-yen Wu and Jia-siang Lin, and a men’s singles SH6 quarterfinal against Thailand’s Natthapong Meechai. Sivarajan Solaimalai also meets China’s Zeng Qingtao in an SH6 quarterfinal.
Other Indian badminton players in action include Suhas Yathiraj, who faces Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom in the men’s singles SL4 Round of 16, and Abhijeet Sakhuja, who takes on China’s Chen Pengfei in the same round. Hardik Makkar meets Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho in the men’s singles SU5. Pallavi Kaluvehalli, Alphia James and Sanjana Kumari are among the Indian women scheduled for group or knockout matches. As with all tournament fixtures, opponents and progression may change depending on earlier results.
Table tennis, swimming and shooting also offer medal opportunities
Table tennis fans can follow several Indian women’s singles semifinals from 6 a.m. Bhavina Patel faces China’s Zhang Bian in the Class 4-5 semifinal, while Sonalben Patel takes on South Korea’s Jiyu Yoon in Class 3. Prachi Pandey meets Iraq’s Najlah Al-Dayyeni in Class 6, and Baby Sahana Ravi faces China’s Mao Jingdian in Class 9. Finals in these classes are scheduled for 11:30 a.m., subject to qualification.
In swimming, Indian competitors will contest morning heats before a series of afternoon finals. Ravi Karthik Budigina and Jahangir Molla are entered in the men’s 100m breaststroke heats, while Chaitanya Vishwas Kulkarni swims the men’s 100m freestyle S6 heats. The finals include Ravi Karthik Budigina in the men’s 400m freestyle S13, Himanshu Nandal in the S11 event, and Niranjan Mukundan and Suyash Narayan Jadhav in the men’s 200m individual medley SM7. Devanshi Satija is scheduled for the women’s 100m backstroke S10 final.
India’s shooting programme starts at 6:30 a.m. with qualification in the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol SH1 events. Manish Narwal, Nihal Singh and Rudransh Khandelwal represent India in the men’s competition; Rubina Francis, Sumedha Pathak, Bhakti Sharma and Shrishti Arora are entered in the women’s event. Finals are scheduled for 8:40 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., respectively, depending on qualification.
More Indian athletes across the day
India’s wider programme includes boccia, cycling, goalball, judo and powerlifting. Anjali Devi plays two women’s individual BC3 pool matches, at 8:10 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Arshad Shaik competes in the men’s C1-3 1000m time-trial qualifying round at 8:30 a.m., with the final scheduled for 12:26 p.m. if he advances. India’s men’s goalball team is due to face Iran in a preliminary-round match at 9 a.m.
In judo, Renuka Narayan Salave is entered in the women’s J1 under-70kg competition, with quarterfinals and potential repechage, semifinal and medal bouts scheduled across the day. Powerlifting finals include Ashok in the men’s up-to-65kg category at 8:30 a.m., Jhandu Kumar in the men’s up-to-72kg event at 1 p.m., and Suman Devi and Seema Rani in the women’s up-to-61kg final at 2:30 p.m.
With medal finals and elimination matches spread across multiple venues, October 20 promises a demanding and potentially rewarding day for India at the Asian Para Games. The strongest moments may come not only from the athletes already established on the international stage, but also from competitors using the continental event to announce themselves. For fans, the combination of badminton, archery, athletics and other sports makes the day’s schedule one to watch closely.
