Asian Games 2026 Cricket Schedule Revised For Three Men's Knockouts

Three men's knockout matches at the Asian Games in Japan will start half an hour earlier than planned. The Asian Games 2026 cricket schedule now lists them at 1.30pm local time. The old slot was 2pm. The change covers the second quarter-final on 28 September, the second semi-final on 1 October and the gold medal match on 3 October. All three convert to a 10am start in India.

The other knockout fixtures are unchanged. The first quarter-final, the first semi-final and the bronze medal match keep their 9am local starts. Group matches are untouched. So is the entire women's tournament. The revised timings appear on the official Asian Games schedule.

The three matches that move

India are seeded into the quarter-finals. They are scheduled to play the second one. That is the fixture Indian outlets picked up first. The Free Press Journal and Herald Goa both reported the revision on Saturday. Neither carried a statement from the organisers.

• Quarter-final 2, Monday 28 September: 1.30pm local, 10am India
• Semi-final 2, Thursday 1 October: 1.30pm local, 10am India
• Gold medal match, Saturday 3 October: 1.30pm local, 10am India
• Quarter-final 1, semi-final 1 and the bronze medal match: 9am local, unchanged

Daylight at Korogi Sports Park

The Free Press Journal and Herald Goa, both citing unnamed sources, report that the ground has no floodlights. Daylight goes early in a Japanese autumn. Men's T20 matches are expected to run longer than the women's games before them. Thirty minutes of margin is the fix.

Without a permanent lighting rig, every match has to finish in daylight. Women's and men's fixtures share the same square. The two tournaments run across seventeen days. The published double-header pattern puts two games on most match days.

No word from the Indian Olympic Association

Both reports say Indian Olympic Association officials were unaware of the change when contacted. The new times were already on the website by then. Travel plans, training slots and broadcast bookings are built off start times. None of the three affected matches is less than a fortnight away.

Nisshin's place in the tournament

Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, is the single venue for both cricket tournaments. The women's competition runs from 17 to 22 September. The men's follows from 24 September to 3 October. Ten teams are entered: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The four top seeds skip the group stage.

Two full T20 tournaments run through one unlit ground. A washed-out session cannot be pushed into the evening. Moving the knockouts thirty minutes earlier is the lever available before reserve days come into play.