India's campaign at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya opens on September 17 not with shooting or wrestling but with teqball, a debutant discipline that fuses football and table tennis. Mohamed Anas Imran Beg, Declan Marshall Gonsalves and Quimcy Dsouza are the three athletes carrying India into a sport most of the country will watch for the first time, according to India Today.
The squad competes in three events: men's doubles, women's singles and mixed doubles. Anas and Declan pair in the 24-team men's doubles field, drawn in Group B against Vietnam's Truong Giang BA and Anh Khoa before facing South Korea's Junsuk Lee and Taebeen Lee. The Mumbai duo arrives in Nagoya holding a bronze medal from the 2024 World Teqball Championships.
Anas then partners Quimcy in mixed doubles. Quimcy, a seven-time national champion, also plays women's singles in Group A, opening against Japan's Yuina Sakamoto before meeting Cambodia's Koemyean Dy on September 18. Technical director Nihar Shah oversees the contingent. All three athletes are Mumbai-based and balance full-time jobs with their sporting commitments.
A sport built on first touch and geometry
Teqball reached a wider audience in 2016, with Brazilian great Ronaldinho among its prominent backers. The game began in Hungary, where three football enthusiasts set out to create a way of playing football on a table. The result borrows football's first touch and table tennis's tight angles. Scoring and match format remain unfamiliar to many, but the sport's core identity is legible: control the ball, use the geometry, keep it off the floor.
That combination matters for Asian Games audiences. New disciplines succeed when spectators can understand the challenge within a minute of watching. Teqball offers that immediate readability, which is precisely why continental organisers have placed it among five sports making their debut in Aichi-Nagoya.
The Indian entry and the continental draw
India's three-person squad is a tight allocation for three events, but the athletes bring specific results. Anas and Declan's world bronze is the strongest credential any Indian teqball player has carried into a continental competition. Quimcy's seven national titles make her the most decorated player in the country. Their presence turns a first appearance into a medal attempt, not mere participation.
The draw gives India early tests. Vietnam and South Korea bring footballing traditions that should translate to teqball's transferable skills. Anas and Declan's Group B matches will show whether their world-level experience holds up on the continental stage. The day's schedule has India opening with teqball before other disciplines begin, giving the contingent a chance to set a tone.
New disciplines and the Asian Games' expanding menu
Teqball is one of five sports making their Asian Games debut in Aichi-Nagoya. The continental body has been widening the programme, adding disciplines that draw younger viewers and open new medal routes for more countries. For India, these additions matter. Traditional strengths like shooting, wrestling, boxing and athletics produce most of the country's Asian Games medals, but the next stage of sporting growth often comes from sports that were fringe a decade ago.
India's multi-sport base has been broadening, with athletes moving into disciplines that once sat outside the mainstream. Teqball fits that pattern: low infrastructure entry, strong social-media visibility, and a young player pool that can learn quickly. A strong opening in Nagoya would reinforce the case for domestic investment in the sport's pathway, from local tables to national coaching.
The structural tension no one announces
The Mumbai trio's full-time jobs tell a larger story. Teqball in India is not yet a profession; it is a second shift after office hours. Many emerging sports in India rely on athletes who fund their own travel, train before work, and compete without the support structures available to Olympic medal disciplines. The question for sports administrators is how much to invest in a sport whose medal potential remains unproven at the continental level.
Resources are finite, and India's Asian Games planning has historically skewed toward sports with recurring medal returns. A debut discipline demands coaching certification, referee training, domestic ranking circuits and school-level exposure. None of that builds itself. Ignoring it forfeits a chance to enter a sport before the field gets crowded. Teqball's low equipment cost and urban appeal make it a reasonable bet for cities, where the player pool already exists.
The Asian Games' edge over the Olympics
The Asian Games has always been a more forgiving arena for new and regional sports than the Olympic programme. Several regional sports have found continental platforms in past editions without waiting for Olympic validation. Teqball's inclusion follows that logic. For India, this matters because the country's sporting ecosystem is more likely to support a discipline once it appears on a multi-sport stage. A debut at the Asian Games lowers the entry barrier for domestic federations to build rankings and hold national championships.
India's urban sporting clubs already operate in this space. Football-based communities across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi have the equipment and the players; what they lack is a formal competition ladder linked to national selection. Teqball's compact footprint makes it easier to stage events in schools, tech parks and residential complexes. That is not a substitute for high-performance training, but it is a feeder system. The Asian Games appearance gives those clubs a visible target.
What a good week in Nagoya can do
Medals change visibility. If Anas, Declan or Quimcy return with a podium finish, the sport's governing body gains a concrete argument for corporate backing and government recognition. A medal in a debut discipline does more for participation than a fifth-place finish in an established one. It also gives Indian broadcasters a new story to tell, which feeds the next cycle of young players.
For now, the focus stays on the table. Anas and Declan know world-level competition; they have a bronze to prove it. Quimcy's singles run will test her against Japan's Yuina Sakamoto, a match that could shape the mixed doubles pairing. Nihar Shah's technical oversight matters too: in a debut sport, small adjustments in positioning and service return separate early exits from deep runs.
India begins its Asian Games campaign with a sport few know, but the three athletes on the table carry a larger point: continental presence is built one discipline at a time. The medal count will get the headlines. The deeper indicator is whether teqball's first outing creates conditions for a second.
