India are clear favourites to win gold in men’s hockey at the Asian Games 2026 in Japan, while the women’s team also has a strong chance of going all the way, former India goalkeeper and Olympian AB Subbaiah said.
He also believes India can improve on its record medal haul of 107 from the previous edition, citing the growth of individual sports, government schemes, private academies and sports science.
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The Asian Games are being held in Japan from September 19 to October 4. Subbaiah, who represented India at three Asian Games and won a gold and two silver medals, spoke to The Federal about India’s hockey prospects, the evolution of Asian hockey and the country’s chances across disciplines.
Edited excerpts
How do you assess India’s chances in men’s and women’s hockey at the Asian Games?
As far as Asia is concerned, I don’t think we have much competition when compared with what it was in the 1990s and 2000s. Pakistan and South Korea were in top form then and had very good structures for developing hockey. In recent years, they have not been doing too well. India are much ahead in Asia as far as the men’s team is concerned.
For the women’s team, definitely after the change of coach, Sjoerd Marijne, when he took over the team, it started doing well again. They too have a good chance.
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India are the defending champions in men’s hockey. Can we expect another gold?
We can’t expect anything less than gold. Pakistan are not the same force as they were once upon a time. Malaysia still pose some challenge. They can be a threat on their day, but if you see the consistency, India are much ahead among all these Asian teams.
The women’s team won bronze last time. Can they go further this time?
Definitely. The Indian women’s team are also preparing very well. Recently, they did tremendously well in the World Cup. They were not favourites to win certain matches. They beat Germany and Australia, and beating Australia is not a small result.
If they keep up the same form during the Asian Games, definitely they will be fighting for gold and silver.
You played in three Asian Games, including the 1994 Games in Hiroshima. How has the tournament and Asian hockey changed since the 1990s?
Earlier, before 1986, it was only India and Pakistan. They used to have good matches in the finals. Sometimes Malaysia used to trouble one of the teams, but otherwise, till then, all the finals were played between India and Pakistan.
In 1986, because of the Seoul Olympics (in two years), Korea prepared very well. They beat India and Pakistan. They beat India in the pool stages and Pakistan later. That was the first time Korea entered the final and won the Asian Games gold. Till then, there was no threat to India and Pakistan.
In the same way, Korea continued to do well in 1990. We played the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing against Pakistan. Pakistan had a star-studded team. All those players — Shahbaz Ahmed, (Tahir) Zaman, and others — were almost the last legendary Pakistan team. They went on to win the 1994 World Cup.
In Hiroshima in 1994, India played Korea in the final, and we lost to Korea by a very close margin. Later, in 1998, we again played Korea in the final. Pakistan were not playing in the final, and we won against Korea in the tie-break.
So, in those days, it was largely India versus Pakistan. Could we see India face Pakistan in the knockout stage this time?
India are the clear favourites to play the final. Pakistan, Korea and China are all at the same level at present. Malaysia, maybe on their day, can upset any big team because they also play very fighting games sometimes.
They are dark horses, but they haven’t been able to reach or win any Asian Games. Otherwise, they are one of the good teams who can upset the favourite teams.
For India, they should walk through to the final very easily. Then we should expect either Korea, Pakistan, or Malaysia — one of these three teams.
How important is the Asian Games gold considering the direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics?
This is a very important tournament. Here, winning a medal is not enough for India. It should be gold. Going through the qualifying rounds, there are a lot of ifs and buts. Sometimes you might get upset in some matches. Why take all those chances when you are a clear favourite?
When you are ranked high in Asia, when you are the number one team, you should be winning the gold and qualifying for the 2028 Olympics. That way, you get more time to prepare for the Olympics.
India finished eighth in the recent men’s World Cup. One, India dominated international hockey. Does India still need to improve at the world level?
A long time back, we dominated. But we have to understand that this team has potential. Many members of this team have won bronze medals at the last two Olympics. So they have the potential, but they were not consistent in this tournament (World Cup).
Before the World Cup happened, they played some very good Pro League matches. They beat Germany, Holland, and England. So they had a chance. We were also expecting the same performance to be repeated. But suddenly, it was disappointing that the team finished eighth.
In the same way, Belgium were thinking that they were contenders for the World Cup. They also finished seventh.
Beyond hockey, where do you see India in the overall Asian Games medal tally?
It is not like earlier during the 1990s and almost till 2000, when in Asia we used to get very few medals.
In 1986, I think we won only five or six medals. Hockey medals used to be there. Otherwise, it was very tough to win one or two medals in other games.
But if you look at the last Asian Games (2022), we were almost fourth in the medal tally. We won a lot because nowadays all the individual sports are doing well.
Shooting, wrestling, and boxing are doing well, and athletics has also started winning medals.
So, in this Asian Games, I feel there will definitely be a rich haul of medals for India because the country is doing well in the Asian Games and in the Commonwealth Games also.
Over the last two decades, a lot of medals have been coming to India in individual sports as well as team sports.
India won 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze, at the last edition. Could this time be the highest-ever medal haul?
This time should be the highest because I think we are well prepared. I can see that government schemes are doing very well, and many private academies have also started producing a lot of sportspersons.
Now, sports science is provided to all the teams, and coaches also get support. All this has developed, and India is producing a lot of medals in many sports, which was really tough during the 1990s and 2000s.