Reporting snapshot · 19 September 2026. The 20th Asian Games officially opened at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya on Saturday evening. Pakistan's 246-member contingent is competing in 23 sports under chef de mission Fatima Lakhani. Squash player Noor Zaman and women's cricket captain Fatima Sana are the flag bearers. Figures on contingent size have varied slightly across reports.
What happened
The 20th Asian Games opened at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday 19 September 2026, formally launching a 16-day competition that runs until 4 October. The ceremony brought together athletes from 45 countries and regions competing in 43 sports, with more than 17,000 athletes and officials expected to take part in total.
Pakistan has entered the Games with a 246-member contingent competing in 23 sports, including cricket, hockey, squash, athletics, kabaddi, boxing, rowing, swimming, wushu, equestrian, triathlon, table tennis, soft tennis and esports. Squash player Noor Zaman and women’s cricket captain Fatima Sana were named by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) to carry the national flag at the opening ceremony.
Some Pakistan teams began competition before the formal opening: the men’s and women’s soft tennis sides both lost their matches on Friday, the day before the ceremony, and squads from several sports had arrived in Japan in phases earlier in the week.
Pakistan’s contingent and its flag bearers
The POA announced the flag-bearer pairing on Wednesday 16 September. In a statement, POA president Arif Saeed nominated squash athlete Noor Zaman and Fatima Sana, captain of the national women’s cricket team, to lead the contingent at the ceremony. The association said the pair would “carry the Pakistan flag as the Flag Bearers of the Pakistan Contingent at the Opening Ceremony.”
Noor Zaman is Pakistan’s leading squash player and the reigning Under-23 world champion, and squash is one of the sports in which Pakistan has a strong Asian Games record. Fatima Sana captains the national women’s cricket team, which has been playing the one-day format in recent weeks; Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the Women’s Asia Cup in early September.
The contingent is led by chef de mission Fatima Lakhani, the senior vice-president of the POA, who told the Express Tribune before departure that leading the national contingent was “a matter of pride and honour” and highlighted the role of women in Pakistani sport. She is the first woman to lead a Pakistan contingent at the Asian Games.
Officials have described the delegation as a 246-member contingent, made up of 234 athletes and officials and 12 contingent officials, though some reports have put the number slightly lower. The POA has said the delegation represents a collective effort by the government, the Pakistan Sports Board, national federations and the Olympic body.
Medal prospects across the programme
Pakistan’s most prominent medal hopes span several sports. In athletics, Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem is expected to spearhead the campaign. Tennis is represented by veteran players Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan, joined by Mahin Aftab Qureshi and Ushna Suhail. The squash squad includes Noor Zaman alongside Mohammad Hamza Khan, Nasir Iqbal and Mahnoor Ali.
Cricket has drawn particular attention. The men’s side, led by Sahibzada Farhan, has been seeded directly into the quarter-finals alongside holders India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, meaning it enters the competition at the knockout stage. The men’s tournament begins on 24 September with the final scheduled for 3 October. The Pakistan men’s team was due to begin its training at Karachi before travelling to Japan. The women’s team, captained by Fatima Sana, features in the tournament that runs from 17 to 22 September.
Pakistan’s men’s hockey team, which finished 11th at the recent FIH World Cup, opens its Asian Games campaign against Thailand on 20 September, followed by matches against Uzbekistan, China, Malaysia and Oman. Former captain Samiullah has said the team should be aiming for the podium.
The troubled build-up
The build-up to the Games has been shadowed by organisational problems that organisers have acknowledged. Unlike a conventional multi-sport event, there is no dedicated athletes’ village; competitors are instead housed in hotels, converted container-style accommodation, and the cruise ship Costa Serena, docked in Nagoya, which can hold up to 5,000 people. The Express Tribune and Reuters reported that the decision was driven by cost concerns after the expensive Tokyo Olympics.
Athletes from several countries reported delays and accommodation problems on arrival. Chinese gymnast Zhang Boheng, a two-time world champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist, said he and team-mates had waited about six hours after landing and described himself as “totally exhausted,” a complaint that circulated widely on Chinese social media. India’s chef de mission Sahdev Yadav acknowledged airport accreditation queues but described them as “teething problems.” South Korea’s Olympic committee also filed a complaint with organisers after a welcoming event featured a person dressed as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Japanese warlord who led invasions of Korea in the late sixteenth century.
Asia’s Olympic chief said he wished the Games had an athletes’ village, while insisting that every accredited athlete and official had accommodation. Organisers say the housing is safe, cost-effective and comfortable.
What is still uncertain
The exact size of Pakistan’s delegation has been reported differently: the POA and the Express Tribune have cited 246 members in 23 sports, while some accounts have given a smaller number of competing athletes. The number of Pakistanis who attended the opening ceremony had not been confirmed by the time of writing, with a contingent official saying a final list from organisers was still expected.
Medal forecasts for Pakistan remain cautious. Officials have spoken of opportunities across cricket, squash, hockey, athletics, kabaddi and boxing, but the men’s cricket team’s knockout-stage entry means a single defeat would end its campaign, and the men’s hockey side is rebuilding after a modest World Cup. Whether the Games run smoothly after a rocky opening weekend, and how Pakistan’s athletes perform in the early rounds, will become clearer in the coming days.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 19 September 2026. Contingent figures vary slightly across reports and are attributed where possible.
- The Express Tribune — Asian Games begin today18 September 2026 · Pakistan's 23-sport entry, the flag-bearer pairing, men's cricket seeding, women's cricket schedule, soft tennis results, and the accommodation arrangements.
- The News International — Fatima, Noor named Pakistan's flag bearers at Asian Games17 September 2026 · Independent confirmation of the POA's flag-bearer announcement and context on Pakistan's medal prospects.
- The Express Tribune — Pakistan fields strong contingent in Asiad10 September 2026 · The 246-member contingent figure (234 athletes and officials plus 12 contingent officials), the 23-sport programme, and the chef de mission appointment.
- The Express Tribune — Leading national contingent at Asian Games is a matter of pride, honour: Fatima Lakhani16 September 2026 · Interview with chef de mission Fatima Lakhani, first woman to lead a Pakistan contingent, and the triathlon and women's squash squads.
- Reuters — Asian Games to open in Nagoya after troubled buildup19 September 2026 · Confirmation of the opening ceremony at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, the scale of the Games, and the accommodation and logistics complaints from delegations.
