We present a rigorous study of the short maturity asymptotics for Asian options with continuous-time averaging, under the assumption that the underlying asset follows the constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model. The leading order short maturity limit of the Asian option prices under the CEV model is obtained in closed form. We propose an analytical approximation for the Asian options prices which reproduces the exact short maturity asymptotics, and demonstrate good numerical agreement of the asymptotic results with Monte Carlo simulations and benchmark test cases for option parameters relevant for practical applications.
