India’s women wrestlers, possessing a lot of experience, are expected to put up a better show in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

In the previous edition, three Indian women had bagged bronze medals. Of the three, two-time World championships medallist Antim Panghal (53kg) is returning with the hope of changing the colour of her medal. Barring 17-year-old Dipanshi (50kg), others in the squad are experienced. Former Asian champion Manisha Bhanwala (57kg) and World under-23 bronze medallist Priya Malik (76kg) are among the leading medal contenders.

Former Asian silver medallist Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and 2024 Worlds bronze medallist Mansi Ahlawat (62kg), who has recovered from an injury, are also capable of making the podium. “We expect tough competition from China, Japan, the Koreas and Central Asian countries. But we will win medals,” women’s coach Virender Dahiya said.

In men’s freestyle, Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat (57kg) and World under-23 champion Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) are the top names.

Aman, fighting in 61kg, took silver in the Zagreb Open and Asian Championships before switching back to his pet 57kg to strike gold in the Budapest Ranking Series. Uzbekistan’s World and Olympic medallist Gulomjon Abdullaev may be a roadblock for Aman, who aspires to upgrade his bronze from the Hangzhou edition to gold.

Sujeet, who claimed the yellow metal in the Zagreb Open, Muhamet Malo Ranking Series and Asian Championships, needs to overcome Olympic champion, Worlds silver medallist and local favourite Kotaro Kiyooka to achieve top honour.

Sagar Jaglan (74kg) has the potential to medal as well. Last edition’s 86kg silver medallist Deepak Punia’s decision to jump to 97kg may affect his movement. “We expect gold medals from Aman and Sujeet,” said freestyle coach Vinod Kumar.

In Greco-Roman, last Asiad’s bronze medallist Sunil Kumar (87kg), Asian under-23 champion Sumit Dalal (60kg) and Asian silver medallist Nitesh (97kg) will eye podium finishes. “Russian and Iranian wrestlers are representing Bahrain and Qatar after getting their citizenship. Nonetheless, we should win some medals,” Greco-Roman coach Hargobind Singh said.

Despite losing three wrestlers to doping, India should look at a better haul than the six medals it secured in Hangzhou three years ago.

As a two-time Olympian, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar will be among the senior pros in the Indian shooting contingent at the Asian Games. More importantly, though, it’s his four medals in the last edition that make him one of India’s strongest medal contenders in Aichi-Nagoya.

With two team golds and an individual bronze and silver each in 2023, Tomar was the star of the Indian shooting contingent. That performance won’t be repeated since he is only participating in one event this time — the 50m rifle 3 Position — but Tomar is not thinking about the numbers but the colour of the medal this time around.

“The last Asian Games was one of my best competitions. This time the target is to give the best performance and win the gold medal,” he told The Hindu during the team’s preparatory camp in Bhopal.

“Last time I missed it. I have to win gold. I don’t think much (about the number of medals). If I perform well last time, it’s my responsibility to perform well this time as well”

At 25, the impish Tomar is already a veteran of the sport. He is also one of the most consistent in his event in the country, and plans on staying there.

“The mindset is to stay at the top. I have been at the top in India for the last 5-6 years in my event. There is competition but there is no rivalry. At the end of the day, it will be a medal for India and that’s what matters,” he declared.

The two golds last time, he insists, were welcome but admits that the charm of an individual gold in shooting is different. “Individual, always. As far as the team gold is concerned, it is our country’s gold. But there are no team medals in the Olympics, shooting is mainly an individual event,” he shrugged.

Individual enough for the best in the business to shut out the world when on the firing spot despite all the noise and crowd a few feet away. To ensure that focus in competition Tomar, instead of locking himself up, forces his mind to wander. It might sound counter-productive; it’s anything but.

“The outside hustle while on the lane is fine; it’s the whirling inside that takes little time to calm down. It’s all a mind game, how well you control yours.

“No thought should be so powerful. That it starts affecting you. During training, I consciously bring in all the possible thoughts that can come during competition,

“I force myself to look at all the distractions. Scores. Ranking. Medal. What others are doing. All possible scenarios. So that when I actually compete, I will be used to it,” he revealed.

Troy Hamilton Douglas talks to coaches from Tamil Nadu as if he has known them for years. At a coaching clinic in Chennai, the 63-year-old listens intently to a young coach explaining how he trained his athletes, including one returning from injury.

Friendly and hands-on, Douglas is the head coach of athletics at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), Vidhyanagar, Ballari, Karnataka. He is in the city for a two-day coaching clinic organised jointly by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and IIS.

Douglas believes Indian athletics can better its performance at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya after a record 29-medal haul at the Hangzhou Games in 2023. The tally of six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze was India’s best-ever athletics performance at the Asian Games since 1951.

“If we can equal or get two or three medals more, I will be very happy. In fact, I will say we can win 32 medals. I am saying this after observing Indian athletics for more than a year and watching the Indian Series this season,” Douglas told The Hindu on Friday.

Asked about IIS athletes with medal potential, Douglas, whose contract with IIS runs until 2028, said: “We have too many [IIS] athletes — 23 in all. I will say of the lot, Rashdeep Kaur (women’s 400m and 4x400m relay) and Prachi Choudhary (women’s 400m and 4x400m relay) have a bright chance. I say that because they are properly prepared and have had a fantastic training camp with the national team.”

Douglas said he had been in close contact with Indian coach Jerry Lee Holness, who is in charge of the women’s 400m and 400m hurdles. He added that IIS jumps coach Yoandri Betanzos believed triple jumpers Praveen Chithravel and Selva Prabhu could “do some fantastic things at the Asian Games”.

Douglas, a three-time Olympian for Bermuda who competed in the 200m and 400m, said he plans to retire from coaching after 2028.

“I’m going to go back and spend time with my three grandkids and be a full-time grandfather.”

Olympic and World championships medallist Mirabai Chanu need not push herself to claim her third consecutive gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, said National chief coach Vijay Sharma.

Mirabai totalled 205kg at the National championships at Modinagar in February before pulling out of the Asian championships at Gandhinagar in May due to a shoulder injury.

The soon-to-be 32-year-old will be eyeing her fourth CWG medal of any colour in a row in Glasgow while trying to stay injury-free.

Since an Asian Games medal has eluded Mirabai, the continental Games in Aichi-Nagoya, from September 19 to October 4, would be her priority. Sharma said it would not be prudent to push her in the women’s 48kg competition in Glasgow.

“For Mira, the CWG will be like a practice event before the Asian Games. A total of 190-195kg should be enough for her to win the CWG gold medal. Irrespective of the total, a gold is a gold. Her main target is medalling at the Asian Games,” Sharma told The Hindu.

Mirabai had won the Commonwealth championships title in Ahmedabad by a margin of 32kg after aggregating 193kg.

Apart from Mirabai, V. Ajaya Babu (79kg) will be in the race for a gold medal. M. Raja (65kg) has an outside chance of finishing on top of the podium.

Following four positive dope tests, including that of gold medal prospect N. Ajith (71kg), which led to a reduction in the country’s quota places, it will be challenging for the Indian weightlifting squad to replicate its 10-medal performance of the Birmingham Games four years ago.

The 12-member Indian weightlifting team trained at Wolverhampton University in Birmingham for more than three weeks before moving to Glasgow.

The Indian Golf Union has finalised a six-member team for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with 2023 silver medallist Aditi Ashok leading the charge.

Besides world No. 135 Aditi, who is also the highest-ranked Indian in the side, the women’s trio includes Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs. Yuvraj Sandhu will lead the men’s squad comprising Veer Ahlawat and Saptak Talwar.

The golf events are scheduled from September 30-October 3 at the Kasugai Country Club East Course.

Interestingly, while the entries have to be routed through the Indian Olympic Association, the IOA has not recognised the Brijinder Singh faction despite the latter having approval from the Sports Ministry and continues to deal with Harish Shetty-led faction. The matter is subjudice. This had led to the IOA refusing to accept the long list of eight men and women each by IGU way back in January.

However, entries in both long lists back then were the same. “The entries were decided purely through the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Yuvraj won seven times on the PGTI circuit last year while Aditi and Diksha have won multiple times on the Ladies European Tour. I am confident the Indian team will finish on the podium,” Brijinder said.