Which sports will offer Olympic quotas at 2026 Asian Games?

Five sports will offer 14 Olympic quotas at the 2026 Asian Games

The Asian Games 2026 are scheduled from September 19 to October 4, 2026. The Games will be more than just a battle for medals. Five sports will offer 14 Olympic quotas, giving Indian athletes a huge opportunity to secure their tickets to the LA 2028 Olympics.

The Asian Games will serve as an Olympic qualification event in sports such as archery, hockey, squash, surfing, and tennis. Here are the full quota details at the 2026 Asian Games for the 2028 LA Olympics.

Archery (6)

Archery will offer the most Olympic quotas at the Asian Games, with six athletes set to qualify for the LA Olympics.

The quotas are as follows:

Finalists of the men’s and women’s individual recurve events
Winner of the mixed team compound event
Winner of the mixed team recurve event, with the athlete also receiving an individual quota

For India, all eyes will be on the mixed compound team, as the Indian archers will look to win gold and secure the Olympic quota. With India having swept all five golds last time, expectations will be high for the compound archers.

In the individual events, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat will be India’s best bets. The Indian archers will be aiming to grab as many quotas as possible from the Asian Games.

Hockey (2)

Hockey will be the only team sport offering Olympic quotas at the Asian Games. Winners of both men’s and women’s events will qualify for LA 2028.

The Indian men’s team will enter the tournament as one of the favourites and will be expected to fight for gold and the Olympic berth.

For the women’s team, this will be an even bigger opportunity. After missing out on the Paris Olympics, they will be determined not to miss out again.

The women’s team will face a major hurdle in Olympic silver medallists, China. India managed to hold them to a draw in their last meeting and will now be looking to go one step further and secure a win against them at the Asian Games. Both Indian teams will have their eyes firmly set on the gold medal and the Olympic quota.

Squash (2)

Squash will make its Olympic debut at LA 2028, and the Asian Games will provide a major opportunity for players to secure a quota. The winners of the men’s and women’s singles events will qualify for the Olympics.

In the men’s event, all eyes will be on Abhay Singh and Veer Chotrani, who will look to create history by securing India’s first-ever Olympic squash quota. Standing in their way will be defending champion Ng Ean Yow of Malaysia, whom both Indians are yet to defeat.

In the women’s event, Anahat Singh faces a tough challenge ahead. She will have to contend with some of Asia’s strongest players, including Sivasangari Subramaniam and Japan’s Satomi Watanabe. Anahat will be aiming to go all the way and secure Olympic qualification.

Surfing (2)

The top-ranked eligible male and female surfers at the Asian Games will secure an Olympic quota.

India has been a rising force in surfing and has performed well at the Asian level. However, the competition at the Asian Games will be fierce, with several strong surfers battling for the two Olympic spots.

All eyes will be on young Indian talent Kishore Kumar, who reached the semi-finals of the 2025 Asian Surfing Championships. He will be looking to take another big step forward and secure an Olympic spot.

In the women’s event, Kamali Prakash and Sugar Gayen will be India’s main contenders for an Olympic quota.

Tennis (2)

In tennis, the singles winner at the Asian Games will secure an Olympic quota.

Sumit Nagal will be looking to take advantage of this opportunity and book his place at LA 2028. However, he will face tough competition from players representing Japan and China, and it will be interesting to see if he can make the most of his chances.

DK Suresh, who has initially entered the doubles event, could also be a player to watch if he decides to compete in singles. He has produced several notable upsets recently and could be a potential contender for the quota.

India has not entered any player in the women’s singles event.