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Indian shot put athlete Tajinderpal Singh Toor will be replaced by kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat as the male flag-bearer for the Asian Games opening ceremony on Saturday.
As per the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), due to technical issues, two-time Asian Games champion Tajinder will no longer be the flagbearer and the Asian Games 2022 gold medalist, Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) star Pawan will be taking his place. Manu Bhaker, the Asian Games gold medalist and double Olympic medalist, will stay as the women's flag-bearer for the Indian contingent. Manu and Tajinderpal were initially announced as the flag-bearers for the women's contingent on Saturday. Bhaker, who won two bronze medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will compete in the womens 10m air pistol, womens 25m pistol, and 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team. She made history in Paris by becoming the first athlete from independent India to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games. Pawan, now the male flag-bearer, will be aiming to lead India to another gold medal in men's kabaddi. Since the debut of the sport in men's team competition at the 1990 Asian Games, India has won gold at eight out of nine editions, except for a bronze medal finish in the 2018 edition in Australia. In the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games edition, India beat Iran 33-29 to capture the gold medal in men's competition. Toor, meanwhile, will aim to secure his third consecutiveAsian Games gold medal in mens shot put. He won gold at the 2018 Jakarta Games and the 2023 Hangzhou edition, where he recorded a throw of 20.36 metres. Meanwhile, Indias Quimcy Joaquim Dsouza fought hard in the Womens Singles semifinal against Indonesias Sumaya, going down 12 after a closely contested match in Teqball Women's Singles - Semifinals - Match 1. Quimcy took the opening set 127 before Sumaya levelled the contest by winning the second set 129. The Indonesian player then secured the third set 127. Quimcy will now compete for the Bronze Medal against Yuina Sakamota of Japan on September 20. (ANI)
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