When the boccia competition begins at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games, expect little to separate the leading nations.
Asia has become one of the sport’s strongest regions, producing world-class athletes across all four individual classifications. With Japan hosting the Games and Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and China bringing serious international pedigree, the battle for medals promises to be one of the most competitive boccia tournaments of the Games.
92 athletes from 23 nations will contest for the 11 gold medals on offer in the boccia competition, which will take place at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium from 17-24 October.
Thailand: The team to beat?
If one nation arrives with the strongest claim to being the benchmark, it is Thailand.
The Thai programme combines depth with athletes who have already proved themselves on the biggest international stages. At the centre of the challenge is Worawut Saengampa, the reigning Paralympic BC2 champion and one of the leading players in the world. World Boccia identified him as the spearhead of Thailand’s challenge at the 2026 World Championships.
Worawut will have plenty of experience around him. Pornchok Larpyen and Ladamanee Kla-Han add considerable pedigree in BC4 and BC3 respectively, while Witsanu Huadpradit and Nuanchan Phonsila are among the other established names in the Thai contingent.
Both Larpyen and Huadpradit are individual winners at the Hangzhou 2022 and have several medals at the Paralympic Games. They would be aiming to keep their BC4 and BC1 titles, respectively.
Thailand will be without multiple Paralympic champion Watcharaphon Vongsa, but its depth means it should still be capable of challenging for medals across several classifications rather than relying on one individual star.
Indonesia & South Korea: Ready to challenge?
Indonesia will also have top names in their ranks, including Felix Ardi Yudha and Handayani Handayani, who won the women’s BC1 gold medallist at the Seoul 2026 World Boccia Championships defeating Japan’s Hiromi Endo 8-2 in the final.
Ardi Yudha is the reigning champion in BC1 individual category at Hangzhou 2022 and was also part of the Indonesia’s BC1-2 team gold medal in Seoul 2026. The duo will also combine for the BC1-BC2 mixed team event aiming to improve their silver medal show this time.
South Korea will bank on the four-time Paralympic champion Jeong Ho-won and Choi Ye-jin, the world number one and London 2012 Paralympic gold medalist in women’s individual BC3 for a dominant show in Nagoya. The two will also have the company of Jung Sung-joon, who clinched a BC1 individual silver at the Paris 2024 besides a silver at the 2018 Asian Para Games.
All of them will bring significant international experience to the competition while they will look to build on their impressive records on the international circuit.
China and Hong Kong in the mix
Having topped the medals table at Hangzhou 2022 with three gold medals, the same number as Thailand, China will be looking to continue their strong run at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
With new champions emerging at Seoul 2026, the traditional dominance in boccia has been challenged. However, the East Asian nation will pin their medal hopes on Zheng Yuansen and Lin Ximei, who have enjoyed success in the men’s and women’s individual BC4 categories, respectively.
Lin’s historic gold medal at Paris 2024 stands out, as she became China’s first-ever Paralympic gold medallist in boccia. She will once again be among the favourites for the individual title.
Together, Zheng and Lin also clinched the mixed team BC4 gold medal at Hangzhou 2022 and will be aiming to defend their title in Nagoya.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, will bring seven-time Paralympic medallist Leung Yuk Wing and Paris 2024 silver medallist Cheung Yuen, with the duo expected to provide a strong challenge to the Chinese pair in the mixed team BC4 event.
