Kabaddi Kurash and Sepak Takraw Will Share a Four Hundred and Sixty Nine Event Asian Games Programme
Japan will enter a ju-jitsu squad for the first time as regional traditional sports take equal billing with Olympic disciplines in Aichi and Nagoya.
The 20th Asian Games open in Aichi and Nagoya on 19 September 2026 with 469 medal events across 43 sports, a programme that gives regional traditional sports the same billing as Olympic disciplines.
Sepak takraw, described as volleyball played with the feet, is contested with a rattan or plastic ball 14 centimetres across on a court the size of a badminton court. Kabaddi, a contact team sport thought to have grown out of ancient Indian hunting tactics and often compared to a game of tag, is also on the programme.
Kurash, a wrestling style practised in Central Asia since ancient times, requires competitors to stay on their feet and permits only throws and sweeps. Wushu is split between taolu, made up of choreographed routines, and sanda, which involves sparring.
Japan will field a ju-jitsu squad at the Games for the first time. Six sports are making their Asian Games debut: freestyle BMX, mixed martial arts, padel, surfing, teqball and virtual taekwondo.
Forty six delegations, including an Asian refugee team, are entered. Esports carries 11 medal events across 13 game titles; the esports competition at Hangzhou in 2023 drew 473 competitors from 30 countries and regions. The Games run until 4 October.