Asian Games 2026: Full List of performers, celebrities and more for closing ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya today
Neeru Dhanda, who won two gold medals in Aichi-Nagoya, will be India's flag-bearer at the Asian Games 2026 closing ceremony on Saturday.
The 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya will conclude on Sunday with the closing ceremony at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
The ceremony will bring an end to 16 days of competition, with athletes from 45 countries and regions having competed across the Asian Games programme. The main ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6pm local time, or 2:30pm IST, while a warm-up stage featuring Japanese performers will begin at 4pm.
Neeru Dhanda to lead India's contingent
India's women's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony will be trap shooter Neeru Dhanda, who finished the Games with two gold medals and one silver. Dhanda won the women's individual trap event before combining with Manisha Keer and Aashima Ahlawat to secure silver in the women's trap team event. She then partnered Kynan Chenai to win gold in the mixed trap team event.
Dhanda had returned to India after completing her shooting events but was asked to travel back to Nagoya to carry the Indian flag at the closing ceremony. India's deputy chef de mission Anjali Bhagwat confirmed her selection.
India's other leading performers
India's campaign included several other notable individual and team performances. Archer Kumkum Mohod won women's individual recurve gold and also collected gold in the women's recurve team event and silver in the mixed recurve team competition.
Pranavi Urs won the women's individual golf gold, while Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal won boxing gold medals. Sujeet Kalkal added a wrestling gold, while India's men's and women's hockey teams both finished at the top of the podium.
The Indian men's and women's cricket teams also won gold medals. Harmanpreet Kaur's women's side retained the Asian Games title before Shreyas Iyer's men's team also finished with gold.
Puripol among the leading performers
Thailand's Puripol Boonson was among the standout athletes of the Games. The sprinter won the men's 100m and 200m titles and was also part of Thailand's mixed 4x100m relay team that won silver.
The Olympic Council of Asia announced before the closing ceremony that it would honour both a male and female Most Valuable Player of Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
The two awards were scheduled to be announced on Sunday with each winner set to receive US$25,000. The selection panel considered factors including gold medals and world, Asian and Asian Games records.
Japanese stars to feature in warm-up programme
The closing ceremony's entertainment programme will begin with a warm-up stage at 4pm, two hours before the main ceremony. Japanese girl group MYERA will headline the programme.
Other officially announced performers include Masaya Kimura, a singer, dancer and actor from Nagoya and member of boy band INI; Japanese television personality and Asian Games Ambassador Kayoko Okubo; and students from Nippon Sport Science University. The Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hattori Hanzo Ninja Squad will also feature. YO!YO!YOSUKE and Miho Horie have been announced as the warm-up stage MCs.
However, the organisers have not published a complete list of celebrity guests attending the main closing ceremony.
Ceremony to bring Games to a close
The closing ceremony will take place at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, the same venue that hosted the opening ceremony on 19 September. The official schedule lists the warm-up stage at 4pm and the main closing ceremony at 6pm, with the ceremony expected to conclude at around 7:30pm local time.
The event will formally bring the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to an end after 16 days of competition and will include the closing proceedings and the final celebrations involving athletes and officials.
When and where to watch the Asian Games 2026 closing ceremony?
The Asian Games 2026 closing ceremony will be broadcast on the Sony Sports Network TV channels. As far as LIVE streaming is concerned, the ceremony will be available on the Sony LIV app and website. The closing ceremony will get underway at 2.30 PM IST, which is 6 PM JST.