India Athletics at Asian Games 2023: Full team, Schedule, Medal chances

India has sent a 68-member athletics squad led by Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra to the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China. With 254 medals across editions since 1951, athletics is the most successful sport for India at the Asiad.

India Athletics Squad at Asian Games 2023:

Men: Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Jena (Javelin Throw), Tajinder Toor, Sahib Singh (Shotput) Sandeep Kumar, Vikash Singh (20km Race walk), Murali Sreeshankar, Jeswin Aldrin (Long Jump), Praveen Chitravel, Abdullah Aboobacker (Triple Jump), Ajay Saroj, Jinson Johnson (1500m), Krishan Kumar, Md Afsal (800m), Santhosh Kumar, Yashas P (400m hurdles), Kartik Kumar (10000m), Gulveer Singh (10000m, 5000m), Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase, 5000m), Sarvesh Kushare, Jesse Sandesh (High Jump), Tejaswin Shankar (Decathlon), Ram Baboo (35km race walk), Man Singh, BA Bopaiah (Marathon), Nihal William, Rahul Baby (4*400m mixed Team), Md Anas Yahiya (400m, 4*400m men's team, 4*400m mixed team), Md Ajmal (400m, 4*400m men's team), Arokia Rajiv, Amoj Jacob, Mijo Kurian, Rajesh Ramesh, Arul R (4*400m men's team), Amlan Borgohain (200m).

Women: Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan (Long Jump), Ankita (5000m), Parul Chaudhary (5000m, 3000m Steeplechase), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw), Kiran Baliyan, Manpreet Kaur (Shot Put), Priyanka (20km Race walk), Manju Rani (35km Race walk), Vithya Ramraj, Sinchal Ravi (400m hurdles), Swapna Barman, Nandini Agasara (Heptathlon), Harmilan Bains (800m, 1500m), Chanda (800m), Diksha (1500m), Tanya Kumari, Rachna Kumari (Hammer Throw), Rubina Yadav, Pooja (High Jump), Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles, 200m), Pavithra V (Pole Vault), Sheena N (Triple Jump), Nithya Ramraj (100m hurdles), Soniya Baishya (4*400m women's team, 4*400m mixed team), Florence Barla, Subha V (4*400m women's team), Aishwarya Mishra (400m, 4*400m women's team, 4*400m mixed team), Himanshi Malik (400m, 4*400m women's team), Jisna Mathews (4*400m women's team, 4*400m mixed team), Seema Punia (Discus Throw), Preeti Lamba (3000m Steeplechase), Prachi.

India Athletics Schedule:

Friday, 29th September

Men's Race Walk- Sandeep Kumar, Vikash Singh- 04:30 am IST

Women's Race Walk- Priyanka Goswami- 04:40 am IST

Women's 400m Round 1- Aishwarya Mishra, Himanshi Malik- 04:30 pm IST

Women's Hammer Throw Final- Tanya Kumari, Rachna Kumari- 04:40 pm IST

Men's 400m Round 1- Md Anas, Md Ajmal- 04:55 pm IST

Women's Shot Put Final- Kiran Baliyan, Manpreet Kaur- 06:15 pm IST

Saturday, 30th September

Men's Long Jump Qualification- Murali Sreeshankar, Jeswin Aldrin- 06:35 am IST

Women's 100m hurdles Round 1- Jyothi Yarraji, Nithya Ramraj- 06:45 am IST

Men's 1500m Round 1- Ajay Saroj, Jinson Jhonson- 07:05 am IST

Men's 400m Semi-finals- Md Anas, Md Ajmal (If qualified)- 07:35 am IST

Men's 400m Final- Anas, Ajmal (If qualified)- 05:30 pm IST

Women's 400m Final- Aishwarya, Himanshi (If qualified)- 05:40 pm IST

Men's 10000m- Kartik Kumar, Gulveer Singh- 05:50 pm IST

Sunday, 1st October

Women's 200m Round 1- Jyothi Yarraji- 07:10 am IST

Women's Long Jump Qualification- Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan- 07:40 am IST

Men's 200m Round 1- Amlan Borgohain- 07:45 am IST

Men's Shot Put Final- Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Sahib Singh- 04:30 pm IST

Men's Long Jump Final (If Qualified)- M Sreeshankar, Jeswin Aldrin- 04:40 pm IST

Men's Steeplechase- Avinash Sable- 04:45 pm IST

Women's 200m Semi-Final (If qualified)- Jyothi Yarraji- 05:05 pm IST

Men's 200m Semi-Final (If qualified)- Amlan Borgohain- 05:25 pm IST

Women's Discus Throw- Seema Punia- 05:35 pm IST

Women's 1500m Final- Harmilan Bains, Kumari Diksha- 05:50 pm IST

Men's 1500m Final (If qualified)- Ajay Saroj, Jinson Jhonson- 06 pm IST

Women's 100m Hurdles Final (IF qualified)- Jyothi Yarraji- 06:45 pm IST

Monday, 2nd October

Men's High Jump qualification- Sarvesh Kushare, Jesse Sandesh- 06:40 am IST

Men's 800m Round 1- Krishan Kumar, Md Afsal- 07:10 am IST

Men's 400m hurdles Round 1- Santhosh Kumar, Yashas P- 07:45 am IST

Women's 400m hurdles Round 1- Sinchal Ravi, Vithya Ramraj- 08:10 am IST

Women's Pole Vault- Pavithra V- 04:30 pm IST

Women's Long Jump Final (If qualified)- Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan- 04:40 pm IST

Women's 3000m Steeplechase- Parul Chaudhary, Preeti Lamba- 04:50 pm IST

Women's 200m Final (If qualified)- Jyothi Yarraji- 05:15 pm IST

Men's 200m Final (If qualified)- Amlan Borgohain- 05:25 pm IST

Mixed 4x400m Relay Final- Indian team- 06:10 pm IST

Tuesday, 3rd October

Women's 800m- Harmilan Bains, Kumari Chanda- 06:50 am IST

Men's 4x400m Realy Round 1- Indian team- 07:20 am IST

Women's High Jump- Rubina Yadav, Pooja- 04:30 pm IST

Men's Triple Jump- Praveen Chitravel, Abdullah Aboobacker- 04:40 pm IST

Women's 400m hurdles Final (If qualified)- Sinchal Ravi, Vithya Ramraj- 04:50 pm IST

Men's 400m hurdles Final (If qualified)- Santhosh Kumar, Yashas P- 05:05 pm IST

Women's 5000m- Ankita, Parul Chaudhary- 05:20 pm IST

Women's Javelin Throw- Annu Rani- 05:40 pm IST

Men's 800m Final (If qualified)- Krishan Kumar, Md Afsal- 05:55 pm IST

Wednesday, 4th October

Men's High Jump (If qualified)- Sarvesh Kushare, Jesse Sandesh- 04:30 pm IST

Men's Javelin Throw- Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena- 04:35 pm IST

Women's Triple Jump- Sheena N- 04:40 pm IST

Women's 800m Final (If qualified)- Harmilan Bains, Kumari Chanda- 04:55 pm IST

Men's 5000m- Gulveer Singh, Avinash Sable- 05:10 pm IST

Women's 4x400m Relay- Indian Team- 05:45 pm IST

Men's 4x400m Relay Final (If qualified)- Indian Team- 06:05 pm IST

Thursday, 5th October

Men's Marathon- Man Singh, BA Bopaiah- 04:30 am IST

Combined Events

Heptathlon- Swapna Barman, Nandini Agasara- First event (30th September, 06:30 am IST) and Final event (1st October, 06:15 pm IST)

Men's Decathlon- Tejaswin Shankar- First event (2nd October, 06:30 am IST) and Final event (3rd October, 06:10 pm IST)

Medal Chances:

With Indian athletes like Neeraj Chopra winning World Athletics Championships gold, the men's 4x400m relay team finishing fifth, and Kishore Kumar Jena and Parul Chaudhary making the finals in Budapest, the medal hopes will be higher from the contingent at the Asiad.

The Indian contingent won 27 medals - six gold, twelve silver, and nine bronze - at the Asian Athletics Championships in July 2023, even though top names like Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable gave the event a miss.

Neeraj Chopra | Javelin Throw | Predicted Finish - Gold

The reigning Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra is the favourite for a gold medal in the men's javelin throw event, where he will be defending his title against Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, who won the silver medal at the World Championships last month, finishing behind his Indian counterpart.

After missing two months due to injury, Neeraj made a solid comeback at the World Championships in Budapest. Kishore Kumar Jena, who finished 5th at the Worlds, will be also in the race for a medal.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor | Shot Put | Predicted Finish - Gold

Asian record holder Tajinderpal Singh Toor is in a league of his own when it comes to the Asian level. He won the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in July in Thailand. He is also the reigning Asian Games gold medallist. Tajinderpalwon it at the 2018 Asian Games with a throw of 20.75m which was one metre more than the silver medallist from China.

Tajinder will be looking to defend his title and break another Asian record.

Other Potential Gold Medallists: Men's 4x400m Relay team, Women's 4x400m Relay team, Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump), Avinash Sable (3000m SC), Praveen Chithravel (Triple Jump), Krishan Kumar (800m), Ajay Kumar Saroj (1500m), Jyothi Yarraji (100m H), Parul Chaudhary (3000m SC), Shaili Singh (Long Jump), KM Deeksha (1500m), Mixed 4x400 Relay Team.

In events like men's long jump and triple jump, India can also look at multiple podium finishes with Jeswin Aldrin (Long Jump), and Abdullah Aboobacker (Triple Jump) also performing consistently.

In combined events, Swapna Barman, the reigning Asian Games gold medallist, and Tejaswin Shankar are also serious medal contenders in the Women's Heptathlon and Men's Decathlon.

Performance at the 2018 Asian Games

India won a total of 20 medals in athletics at the 2018 Asian Games including eight gold, nine silver, and three bronze medals.

The Jakarta 2018 saw the rise of Neeraj Chopra who threw 88.06m to claim the gold medal in the Javelin throw, while Tajinderpal Singh Toor came up with a throw of 20.75m to win the Shot Put gold.

Gold Medalists: Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put), Arpinder Singh (Triple Jump), Manjit Singh (800m), Jinson Jhonson (1500m), Women's 4x400m Relay Team, Swapna Barman (Heptathlon), Mixed 4x400m Relay Team

Silver Medalists: Dutee Chand (100m, 200m), Hima Das (400m), Sudha Singh (3000m Steeplechase), Neena Varakil (Long Jump), 4x400m men's relay team, Jinson Jhonson (800m), Muhammad Anas (400m), Dharun Ayyaswamy (400m hurdles)

Bronze Medalists: Seema Punia (Discus Throw), P Chitra (1500m), Anu Raghavan (400m hurdles)