India Tennis Squad For Asian Games 2026: Full List And Schedule

India's tennis contingent for the 2026 Asian Games has shifted since it was first named back in June - and the squad now confirmed to compete is considerably leaner than originally announced.

According to the latest list, India will send seven athletes to compete in tennis at the Games, which run September 19 to October 4 in Aichi-Nagoya:

- Men's Singles: Sumit Nagal
- Men's Doubles Team 1: Yuki Bhambri, Dhakshineswar Suresh
- Men's Doubles Team 2: Anirudh Chandrasekar, N. Sriram Balaji
- Women's Doubles: Ankita Raina, Rutuja Bhosale

Sumit Nagal stands as India's sole representative in singles competition across either gender.

How This Differs From the Original Squad

When India's tennis team was first named in June, it was a considerably larger 12-member group. That original squad included three singles players on the men's side - Nagal, Manas Dhamne, and Dhakshineswar Suresh - plus a separate three-man doubles contingent of Yuki Bhambri, N. Sriram Balaji, and Anirudh Chandrasekar.

On the women's side, the initial squad featured a full singles trio led by Sahaja Yamalapalli alongside Vaishnavi Adkar and Vaidehi Chaudhari, with a doubles unit of Rutuja Bhosale, Prarthana Thombare, and Ankita Raina. Reserves named at the time included Karan Singh, Rithvik Bollipalli, Niki Poonacha, Zeel Desai, and Shruti Ahlawat.

The gap between that 12-athlete announcement and the seven-player squad now confirmed is significant - most notably, India's entire women's singles representation and Manas Dhamne's men's singles slot don't appear in the final list, and Dhakshineswar Suresh has shifted from a singles role into doubles alongside Bhambri.

India's History in Tennis at the Asian Games

Indian tennis has won 34 total medals across Asian Games history - 10 gold, 7 silver, and 17 bronze. The sport's Asian Games legacy traces back to 1966, when Shiv Prakash Misra and Vinay Dhawan won India's first tennis medal, a bronze in men's doubles, at the Bangkok Games. Leander Paes delivered the country's breakthrough gold in singles and team competition at the 1994 Hiroshima Games, and remains the most decorated Indian in the sport's Asian Games history, accounting for five individual and team golds across 1994, 2002, and 2006. Other notable gold-medal pairings include Mahesh Bhupathi and Paes in 2002, and Rohan Bopanna with Divij Sharan in 2018.

The Most Recent Result

At the last edition, held in Hangzhou in 2023, India won two medals: Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale claimed gold in mixed doubles, while Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni took silver in men's doubles. Bhosale's return to this year's squad in women's doubles alongside Ankita Raina - the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist - gives India continuity from that successful campaign, even with the overall squad size reduced.

Why This Tournament Matters Beyond the Medals

As with the previous edition, the men's and women's singles champions at these Asian Games will earn direct qualification quotas for the LA 2028 Olympics - though with no women's singles entrant in India's final squad, that particular pathway won't be available to Indian players this time around. On the men's side, Nagal remains India's only shot at that Olympic qualification route through singles competition.

Tennis Schedule at the Asian Games

- September 27: Preliminary rounds (Round of 64) across men's and women's singles and doubles
- September 28 - October 2: Round of 32 through semifinals across all categories, including mixed doubles
- October 3: Final medal matches

With a smaller squad than originally planned, India's tennis medal hopes in Aichi-Nagoya now rest heavily on its two doubles pairings and whatever Nagal can produce as the lone singles representative.