{
  "id": 8372142,
  "title": "India v Pakistan – will rivals face off at Asian Games 2026?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/india-v-pakistan-will-rivals-face-off-at-asian-games-2026-8372142",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-19T03:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/cricket/2026/09/19/india-v-pakistan-will-rivals-face-off-at-asian-games-2026/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Asian Games commence in Japan this weekend, featuring over 10,000 athletes competing in 43 categories. Among them are India, the reigning two-time T20 world champions. India is favored to defend their Asian Games gold medals, with a full-strength team led by Shreyas Iyer and featuring players such as Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Jasprit Bumrah. Meanwhile, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh will also vie for medals in cricket at the Korogi Sports Park. These four nations have been granted passage directly to the quarter-final stage. The other quarter-finalists will be determined through a qualifier involving Japan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Malaysia, Oman, and Hong Kong. While India and Pakistan have not been scheduled to play each other in the early rounds due to strained political relations, their potential clash could occur in the medal rounds, particularly if both teams advance past the quarter-finals and end up in different semi-final groups.",
  "summary": "The Asian Games begin in Japan this weekend with more than 10,000 athletes competing across 43 categories. The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will have some of the top athletes in the world competing from September 19 until October 4. Among them will be reigning two-time T20 world champions India, who are favourities to defend their Asian Games gold medals. India won both the men's and women's gold…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "India v Pakistan – will rivals face off at Asian Games 2026?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/india-v-pakistan-will-rivals-face-off-at-asian-games-2026",
        "published": "2026-09-19T03:30:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Business Recorder",
        "title": "Asian Olympic boss says politicians need to stay out of sport at Nagoya Games",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/asian-olympic-boss-says-politicians-need-to-stay-out-of-sport-at",
        "published": "2026-09-19T06:29:30.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "More athletes than the Olympics, but plenty of problems as Asian Games open in Japan",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/more-athletes-than-the-olympics-but-plenty-of-problems-as-asian-games",
        "published": "2026-09-19T07:18:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}