Formal Opening Ceremony of the 20th Asian Games Takes Place Today, Nepal Sends 135 Athletes

The formal opening ceremony of the 20th Asian Games will be held today at 6 PM at Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya City, Japan. Returning to Japan after 32 years, the Games feature approximately 17,000 athletes and officials competing across 43 sports and 71 events for 469 medals. Nepal is participating with a total of 135 athletes representing 21 sports, comprising 57 women and 78 men.

These 135 Nepali athletes are part of the delegation attending the opening ceremony at Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium in Nagoya City, scheduled for 6 PM local time. Even before the formal opening, various sporting competitions are already underway in the Aichi Prefecture and other cities including Gifu, Shizuoka, Tokyo, and Osaka.

Japan is hosting the Asian Games for the third time, having previously hosted in 1958 and 1994. The event features competition in 43 sports and 71 events with 469 medals up for grabs. This edition introduces new disciplines such as mixed martial arts, padel, surfing, virtual taekwondo, and teqball. Additionally, e-sports and breaking are included as official events.

The Nepalese contingent includes 135 athletes—57 women and 78 men—along with 29 coaches, 17 managers, and 2 technical officials. Nepal’s representation spans multiple sports including archery (2), athletics (6), badminton (4), boxing (7), cricket (15), cycling (2), golf (4), judo (6), kabaddi (24), karate (8), rafting and canoeing (2), skate and skateboarding (2), soft tennis (4), squash (2), swimming (5), table tennis (6), taekwondo (3), tennis (5), volleyball (12), wrestling (6), and ushu (10). However, the Nepal women’s volleyball team has already been eliminated from medal contention.