Singapore’s 2026 Asian Games team is taking shape, and it is a formidable one. The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) has provisionally selected more than 256 athletes across 23 sports for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, scheduled for 23 July to 2 August 2026 in Japan. Leading the charge are familiar heroes — sprint queen Shanti Pereira, sailing champion Ryan Lo, and the irrepressible Quah siblings in the pool.
Singapore 2026 Asian Games Team: The Headline Names To Know
The headline on everyone’s lips is Shanti Pereira. Singapore’s Sprint Queen — the fastest Southeast Asian woman ever over 100m and 200m — arrives in Aichi-Nagoya as the defending 200m gold medallist. Her victory at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games remains one of the defining moments in Singapore sports history, breaking the country’s athletics gold medal drought since 1974. Shanti also claimed silver in the 100m that night, completing one of the greatest individual performances by a Singaporean athlete at a continental games.
Source: Team Singapore official website (teamsingapore.sg)
Now 30, Shanti enters her prime Asian Games defence with a confidence born of experience. She has raced at the highest levels — Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, World Athletics Championships — and her national records in the 100m, 200m and 400m stand as benchmarks the rest of Southeast Asia can only aspire to. Expect Aichi-Nagoya to bring out the very best of Singapore’s most decorated track athlete.
Swimming: The Quah Siblings And Singapore’s Pool Ambitions At Asian Games 2026
Source: Team Singapore official website (teamsingapore.sg)
Singapore’s swimming team has been selected in full, and the Quah name features prominently. Quah Zheng Wen, a three-time Olympian who has been the bedrock of Singapore’s men’s swim programme for over a decade, leads the male contingent. His sister Quah Ting Wen — Singapore’s most decorated SEA Games athlete ever after winning gold at 33 in the 2025 games — is also on the roster, as is younger sibling Quah Jing Wen and rising teenager Julia Yeo.
The pool will demand peak performance from the Quah quartet. Competition from Japan, China and South Korea is fierce at the Asian level, but the siblings have always risen to the occasion on big stages. A relay medal would be a fitting way to cap what may be the last Asian Games campaign for some of Singapore’s most beloved swimmers.
Ryan Lo: Singapore’s Sailing Gold Defender Eyes Back-To-Back Asian Games Titles
Source: Team Singapore official website (teamsingapore.sg)
On the water, sailor Ryan Lo carries enormous expectation. The two-time Olympian claimed Asian Games gold in Hangzhou 2023 in the men’s ILCA 7 class and has spent every waking hour since focused on retaining that title. Lo is Asia’s elite in the single-handed dinghy discipline, and Aichi-Nagoya — with its demanding sailing conditions near Japan’s Pacific coast — will be a worthy arena for his title defence.
Beyond these headline names, Singapore’s 256-strong squad spans disciplines as varied as badminton, wushu, fencing, table tennis and rowing. Of the total selection, 115 athletes met the organisers’ official qualification standards, while a further 141 satisfied the SNOC’s own selection criteria — reflecting the depth and breadth of Singaporean sport in 2026.
The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games represents a crucial staging post in the national athletes’ journey. For many, it is the last major multi-sport event before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. For others — like Shanti, Ryan Lo and the Quah siblings — it is a chance to write the next chapter in careers already etched into Singapore’s sporting folklore.
For more on Singapore’s athletes and sports scene, check out the SportSG’s spexScholars and spexPotential 2026 cohort guide and the Singapore Lions’ June 2026 international squad. All the latest Team Singapore action is right here in our Sports section.
The Samurai Blue are watching, Singapore. And so is Team Singapore — heading to Japan in July ready to make the nation proud.
