Indian football team will kick off their Asian Games journey with a difficult game against hosts China in Hangzhou today.
The match will start at 5pm Indian Time. Veteran forward Sunil Chettri will be leading India against hosts China in their Group A match at the Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium.
The 19th Asian Games are scheduled to commence from 23rd of this month but same events including the football will kick off today.
India men’s volleyball team will also be competing in the Games from today. It will kickstart its campaign in Pool C of the preliminary round against Cambodia today. The match will start at 4:30pm Indian Time. The volleyball tournaments will be played across four venues.
The women’s team will take on the People's Republic of Korea in its opening match in Pool A on the 30th of this month.
Indian athletes will compete for medals across 39 different sports at the Asian Games. The 68-member squad for athletics - 35 men and 33 women - is India’s largest contingent for any sport in Hangzhou.
Athletics at the Asian Games will be held from September 29 to October 5.
Neeraj Chopra, the reigning Asian Games, world and Olympic champion in the men’s javelin throw, headlines India’s 655-member Asian Games squad. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, and wrestler Bajrang Punia, all Olympic medallists, will also be competing in Hangzhou.
In Badminton, HS Prannoy will be competing in the singles alongside Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu. Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the Asian record holder in shot put, will defend his Asian Games title in Hangzhou. Swapna Barman and Jinson Johnson, the defending champions in the heptathlon and men’s 1500m, respectively, will also be in action.