Competition schedule for Asian Para Games 2023 released

The fourth Asian Para Games will held for athletes with disabilities in Hangzhou, China, from 22 to 28 October 2023.

The competition schedule has been released on Friday.

Hangzhou will be the second Chinese city to host the Asian Para Games, after Guangzhou in 2010. Originally scheduled to take place from 9 to 15 October 2022, the event was postponed to 2023 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the conclusion of the 19th Asian Games, organisers are now turning their full attention to the Para Games, which will welcome an estimated 3,800 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions that will compete across 22 sports during the week-long event.

The opening ceremony of the Para Games will take place on 22 October at the Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium. The closing ceremony of the event will take place on 28 October at the same venue.

The Games will feature 566 gold medal events in 22 sports (in 24 disciplines) which were split into multiple events, including Taekwondo, Canoeing and Go which are included for the first time in the Games' programme. Absent from the previous edition, Blind Football and Rowing which were not featured in the 2018 edition will return.

India has sent its biggest-ever contingent to the Asian Para Games, a total of 309 athletes including 196 men and 113 women will be competing in the event. India will participate in 17 disciplines, including five sports — Canoeing, Blind Football, Lawn Bowls, Rowing, and Taekwondo — for the very first time.