Asian Games countdown: Injury hit Indian squad needs to surmount several hurdles    

Neeraj Chopra’s injury is a big setback for India even before the start of the track and field competitions of the 2026 Asian Games which are scheduled to begin at Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 23.

India’s ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has been ruled out after he suffered a ligament tear during a training session shortly after competing at the Lausanne Diamond League in August 2026. It happened soon after he threw a season-best 88.05m in Lausanne, Switzerland. The injury forced him to end his 2026 season early, ruling him out of the Asian Games and the Diamond League Finals.

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Hence, his absence from the javelin competition will make it a lot easier for his archrivals Rumesh Pathirage of Sri Lanka and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. India has named Yashvir Singh as Chopra’s replacement. Yashvir won bronze at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, so he is not simply a replacement in numbers but instead he goes to Nagoya with a recent major international medal.

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage and Arshad Nadeem are the favourites in Neeraj Chopra’s absence. Pic: Athletics India

Arshad, Rumesh are the favourites

But the field is formidable. The favourites are Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who is the current world No. 1 after throwing 91.09m at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. Clearly this 23-year-old from Kalutara is set to become one of the legendary javelin throwers of the world.

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However, India has many other good prospects and we have to hope for a good performance from them. Former long jump star Anju Bobby George is confident that India will surpass last time’s haul. She has predicted that this time India will get 30 to 32 medals in athletics as against 29 on the previous occasion.

Avinash Sable is returning from injury

India’s medal prospects in athletics include Avinash Sable, the specialist 3,000m steeplechase runner who has had vast experience at the international level and has met with considerable success. Sable is probably India’s most prominent athletics medal hope after Chopra. He is the defending Asian Games champion, but his preparations have been complicated by a serious knee injury and a 14-month absence from the tracks. He returned recently with an 8:32.39, which was well outside his personal best of 8:09.91. So, he will have to improve quite considerably.

Avinash Sable will have to improve quite considerably. Pic: The Bridge

What must be noted is that his gold medal time in the previous Asian Games (2022) was 8:19.50. Japan’s Ryoma Aoki with 8:23.75 was second. Ryoma’s best came in June of 2026 when he clocked 8:18.63. So, there is a considerable gap between the best performance of Ryoma and that of Avinash. But Avinash has to overcome his injury and run at his best.

Shot put star Tajinderpal is a strong contender

Another strong medal hope of India is Tajinderpal Singh Toor in the men’s shot put. Toor is another very experienced athlete and is a two-time Asian Games champion, having won gold in 2018 and 2022. He also holds the Asian Games record of 20.75m. The burly Punjabi holds the Asian record at 21.77 created in June 2023.

In the previous Asian Games Mohammed Daoud Tolo of Saudi Arabia was second with 20.18 but his best is 21.80, created at an international meet in Madrid. This distance is even better than Toor’s record. Hence, he will be the main competitor for the Indian. China’s Xing Jialiang has recorded a distance of 20.95 this year so he too is a strong contender.

Gulveer should win two medals

Among the men’s long-distance runners, Gulveer Singh will be the man to watch out for. Gulveer is one of the younger Indian athletes who could make a significant impact. He has established himself in the 5,000m and 10,000m and is part of the new generation of Indian distance runners who have improved considerably in recent years. Gulveer clocked 27:24.28 in the 10K in March this year so he is in good form.

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At the 2022 Asian Games, Birhanu Balew of Bahrain had won the gold with 28:13.62, India’s Kartik Kumar had got silver with 28:15.38 and Gulveer himself had got the bronze with 28:17.21. Now Gulveer has improved his time further (27:24.28) and so he stands a very good chance of winning a medal.

Gulveer Singh has improved his time further (27:24.28) and so he stands a very good chance of winning a medal. Pic: Asian Athletics Association

In the men’s long jump, Murali Sreeshankar would normally have been one of India’s strongest possibilities. But his continuing injury situation has affected his participation. Consequently, the men’s long jump is not as straightforward a medal prospect for India as it appeared a few months ago.

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In the high jump, Sarvesh Kushare is another athlete worth watching. He has cleared 2.30m in his career and has been part of India’s recent international high-jump success. He will have a difficult Asian field to contend with, but a medal is within his reach if he reproduces his best form.

Jyothi Yarraji’s chances are very bright

In the women’s 110 hurdles, Jyothi Yarraji has emerged as India’s leading women’s hurdler and is again expected to challenge for a medal. She is part of the group of Indian athletes who have been prominent in the build-up to Nagoya. The recent Indian Athletics Series competition was specifically used as preparation for the Games for athletes such Yarraji and others.

Yarraji’s main competitors will be Wu Yani of China who had secured a bronze medal at the Asian Championships with a time of 13.07 seconds, followed by Yuni Tanaka of Japan and Lin Yuwei of China. But Yarraji’s best time of 12.08 puts her a cut above her Chinese and Japanese rivals.

Parul Chaudhary determined to defend her title

Then there is Parul Chaudhary in the 3,000m steeplechase Parul is another defending Asian Games champion returning to Japan. She won gold in the women’s 5,000m at Hangzhou and has also established herself internationally in the steeplechase.

Parul, Avinash Sable, and Tejinderpal Toor are three gold medalists who will be defending their titles this time.

Women’s javelin will miss ace Annu Rani

In the women’s javelin throw, there has been an unfortunate development. Annu Rani, the defending Asian Games champion is out of the Indian team because she did not meet the qualification standard. That means India has lost another defending athletics champion before the competition has even begun.

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During the trials she was completely off-colour and threw 57.50 metres at the final trials in New Delhi on September 10, 2026. She missed the required Athletics Federation of India (AFI) qualifying standard of 57.62 meters by just 12 centimeters. It was a big setback for her and for India. Annu is a two-time Olympian and the defending champion at the Asian Games. But she failed at an important juncture and paid the penalty.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2022, Neeraj Chopra, Annu Rani, Tajinderpal Toor, Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary were among India’s major athletics success stories. This time, Chopra and Annu Rani are absent, while Sable is returning from a lengthy injury layoff. The trio of Sable, Toor and Parul has the advantage of previous Asian Games gold-medal experience, while athletes such as Yarraji, Gulveer and Yashvir represent the newer generation. They will be carrying the hopes of more than a billion Indians when they step onto the arena in Japan.