Old rivalries will renew, and fierce battles will take centre stage when the Para badminton competitions at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games take place from 16 to 23 October at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Aichi.
A total of 151 players from 22 nations including Paralympic and world champions, will fight for 22 gold medals, with several nations looking to build on their performances at Hangzhou 2022.
China topped the medals table at Hangzhou 2022 with 10 gold while Indonesia had five gold in their 14-medal haul followed by India with four golds. With Paralympic and world champions among the field, the race for medals promises to be one of the highlights of the Games.
Home stars keen to improve medal standings
As the host nation, Japan will have the advantage of competing on home soil at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. The nation collected two gold medals at Hangzhou 2022 and will be looking to build on that performance in front of a home crowd.
Among those leading Japan’s challenge are Sarina Satomi, Daiki Kajiwara and Shino Kawai; all of them are reigning world champions, having won gold at the Bahrain 2026 BWF Para Badminton World Championships.
Satomi and Kajiwara have also enjoyed success at the biggest international events for several years now, with both winning the women’s WH1 and men’s WH2 singles gold at Hangzhou 2022 and Paris 2024. Kawai is the new emerging star for Japan and would be among the upcoming stars to watch out for at her debut Asian Para Games.
China’s champions lead a strong medal challenge China enter Aichi-Nagoya 2026 with a lot of confidence after finishing on top with 11 golds at the Bahrain 2026 World Para Badminton Championships held earlier this year. The country will again look to its multiple-time Paralympic champions including Qu Zimo (WH1), Liu Yutong (WH2) and Cheng Hefang (SL4).
Yutong also showed the same form in the previous Asian Para Games and would look to continue in the same vein at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Her latest three-gold performance in Bahrain 2026 underlines the consistency she has maintained across major international competitions.
Zimo further bolsters China’s lineup on the courts. He first dominated the global stage at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics by capturing the gold in both men’s singles WH1 and doubles WH1–WH2, a double-gold feat he successfully defended at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. He continued his regional dominance by securing two gold medals at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games and enters the competition in Aichi following a spectacular triple-gold sweep at the 2026 World Championships. Hefang also arrives with a strong record, having won women’s singles SL4 gold at Hangzhou 2022, Paris 2024 Paralympics and the 2024 BWF Para Badminton World Championships. Her battles against Indonesian icon Leani Ratri Oktila have always been in the limelight, and the two should be battling yet again in the medal match in Aichi.
There will be also few other names who will be eager to shine for China at these Asian Para Games – Li Fengmei will be defending her women’s singles and doubles SH6 titles. She was also a standout performer at Bahrain 2026 with three titles and will be looking to deliver the same result in Aichi.
Also watch out for Yang Qiuxia, the reigning Paralympic and world champion in women’s singles SU5. A showdown between Qiuxia and India’s reigning champion Thulasimathi Murugesan is expected once again after the Chinese defeated the Indian in both Paris 2024 and Bahrain 2026 for the gold.
India’s stars bank on experience
India will have several names to look out for at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 but two names that stand out for the South Asian nation are Pramod Bhagat and Nitesh Kumar, both SL3 shuttlers.
Bhagat won the gold at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games and added two gold medals at the Bahrain 2026 BWF Para Badminton World Championships, winning both the men’s singles SL3 and men’s doubles SL3-SL4 titles (pairing with Sukant Kadam). Kumar, meanwhile, achieved his breakthrough moment at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games when he clinched the gold medal.He had gold in men’s doubles SL3-SL4 (pairing with Tarun Dhillon) and silver in men’s singles SL3 at Hangzhou 2022, before achieving the Paralympic success.
Paris 2024 bronze medallist Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan would be another name in the Indian contingent who has the potential to challenge Fengmei in women’s SH6 events.
More Paralympic stars in the field
Malaysia’s Cheah Liek Hou brings an exceptional record into Aichi-Nagoya 2026, having won men’s singles SU5 gold at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games before adding two gold medals at the 2026 World Championships.
Following his record ninth world title at Bahrain 2026, Cheah surpassed squash legend Datuk Nicol David’s record of eight individual world titles, making him Malaysia’s most successful individual world championship athlete. Indonesia’s Rina Marlina and Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai also bring proven experience from Hangzhou 2022. Both players won one gold and one silver medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games, adding further medal-winning experience to the competition in Aichi-Nagoya.
Aichi-Nagoya 2026 will provide another stage for Asia’s leading para badminton players to go head-to-head for continental honours.
