India’s men’s and women’s hockey teams will begin their Asian Games 2026 campaigns on Sunday with two targets firmly in sight — winning gold and securing direct qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The hockey competition at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya will be held in Kakamigahara, with both Indian teams opening their respective campaigns on September 20.
The Indian men have been placed in Pool A alongside Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while the women are in Pool B with Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Singapore.
The Asian Games come soon after the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026, where the two Indian teams experienced contrasting campaigns. The men finished eighth, while the women recorded their best World Cup finish in 52 years by securing fifth place.
Both teams, however, head into the continental tournament with a similar approach — identify the lessons from the World Cup, address areas that need improvement and focus on the challenge ahead.
Men eye title defence:
For the Indian men, the tournament presents an opportunity to defend the gold medal won at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 and become the first Indian men’s hockey team to successfully retain the continental title.
Led by captain Harmanpreet Singh and coached by Craig Fulton, India will also be seeking to build on its recent success at the continental level. The team won the 2025 Men’s Asia Cup in Rajgir and currently holds four Asian Games gold medals, with the latest coming in Hangzhou.
Fulton has made it clear that the eighth-place World Cup finish must serve as a learning experience rather than a distraction.
“These are lessons, and the only way to treat them as lessons learned is to turn that learning into action. That’s what we’ve got to do now. We’ve discussed everything, gone through everything and highlighted areas needing improvement. At the same time, it’s now about action,” Fulton said.
India will begin its Pool A campaign against Indonesia on September 20 before taking on Sri Lanka on September 22, South Korea on September 24, Japan on September 26 and Bangladesh on September 28.
The men’s campaign carries added importance, with the Asian Games gold medal also providing a direct qualification route to the LA 2028 Olympics.
Women build on historic World Cup campaign:
The Indian women arrive in Japan with renewed confidence following their historic fifth-place finish at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup 2026, their best result at the tournament in more than five decades.
Led by captain Salima Tete, the team will look to improve on its bronze-medal finish from the 2023 Asian Games and challenge for only its second Asian Games gold medal.
Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne, who returned to the Indian women’s programme earlier this year and took charge as head coach in January 2026, has urged his players to acknowledge their World Cup achievement before turning their attention to the next challenge.
“We did something remarkable and historical, but we have to move on to the next tournament… You have to close a chapter before you move to the next one,” Marijne said.
The coach has also stressed that the World Cup result cannot lead to complacency.
“Success is not guaranteed. You have to fight for it again and give even more,” he added.
India’s women will open their Pool B campaign against Uzbekistan on September 20, followed by matches against Indonesia on September 21, Thailand on September 23, Japan on September 25 and Singapore on September 27.
Focus remains on the process:
Despite their different World Cup outcomes, both Indian teams have stressed the importance of maintaining focus on their own performances rather than becoming distracted by their opponents.
Fulton said India will approach every match with the same level of intensity.
“All respect to whoever we play. The only way to truly respect the opposition is by giving 100%. That’s what we’ve done, and that’s what we’ll continue to do in all the tournaments,” he said.
Marijne has adopted a similar approach with the women.
“We are really busy with ourselves. What other countries are doing, it doesn’t have my interest. We need to do our things really well, and then the outcome can be good,” he said.
The pool-stage matches will continue until September 28, with the semi-finals scheduled for September 30. The women’s gold-medal match will be played on October 2, while the men’s final is scheduled for October 3.
With Olympic qualification at stake, India’s Asian Games campaign represents more than a bid for continental supremacy. For the men, it is a chance to defend their title and potentially make history. For the women, it is an opportunity to build on a landmark World Cup campaign and make another push for the Asian Games summit.
