Shooter Manu Bhaker and kabaddi player Pawan Sehrawat carried the Indian flag as the country’s 503-athlete contingent marched at the Asian Games 2026 opening ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on September 19.
Shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor had been named a flag bearer but was replaced at the last moment because of an issue with his official kit.
Sehrawat received word of the honour at short notice, and he was part of India’s gold-winning kabaddi team at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Bhaker, a double Olympic medallist, first competed at the Asian Games as a teenager in 2018.
India will compete across 36 sports at the 20th edition of the Games.
The Asian Games 2026 opened on Saturday, September 19, at a ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, marking the 20th edition of the Games.
India’s contingent for the Games has 503 athletes competing across 36 sports.
Manu Bhaker, a double Olympic medallist in shooting, and kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat carried the Indian flag at the Parade of Nations.
Shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, a two-time defending Asian Games champion, had been named a flag bearer but was replaced because of an issue with his official ceremonial kit.
Pawan Sehrawat received word of the flag-bearing honour at short notice.
Sehrawat was part of India’s gold-winning kabaddi team at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Bhaker first competed at the Asian Games as a teenager in 2018 and has spoken about how far she has come since then.
She will compete in the women’s 10m air pistol, the women’s 25m pistol and the mixed team 10m air pistol events.
Teqball player Quimcy Dsouza lost her semifinal on September 19 and plays bronze medal matches on September 20.
On September 20, the Indian women’s cricket team plays Bangladesh in a semifinal, and hockey, badminton, shooting and table tennis fixtures are also scheduled.
Paloma Mizuho stadium, Nagoya, Japan (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC0
