SANYA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- With 30 days to go until the opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Beach Games in Sanya 2026, the organizing committee announced on Monday that a total of 1,790 athletes have been confirmed to take part.
According to the organizers, national and regional Olympic committees from 45 countries and regions have signed up for the event. Following qualification reviews, the number of registered athletes stood at 1,790 as of March 20.
The Games will feature 14 sports, 15 disciplines and 62 events. The women's beach football event has been canceled due to an insufficient number of teams, while all other events will go ahead as planned.
The top five sports by number of participants are beach handball, dragon boat, beach athletics, ju-jitsu and beach volleyball. Beach handball has attracted the largest number of athletes, with 237.
In terms of delegation size, the top five participating teams are Thailand, China, the Philippines, India and Hong Kong, China.
Li Haigang, deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee, said the overall competition schedule and event timetables have been optimized and will be released soon.
"The detailed timing of events will be clarified to help media and spectators better plan their viewing schedules," he added.
Meanwhile, operational teams at all competition venues have completed multiple rounds of training, tabletop exercises and test events.
"In 30 days, athletes, coaches and officials from across Asia will gather in Sanya to compete amid its blue seas and sandy beaches," Li said. "We will spare no effort in our preparations to provide a high-quality competition environment and deliver splendid Games."
The Games will be held from April 22 to 30. ■
