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Kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat and Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker led the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Saturday.
The ceremony at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium marked the formal opening of the 20th Asian Games, with India represented by a 503-athlete contingent across 36 sports. Sehrawat, a member of India's gold-medal-winning men's kabaddi team at the previous Asian Games, now has the distinction of carrying the Tricolour at the opening ceremony alongside Bhaker. Bhaker, a double Olympic medallist, is among India's prominent athletes at the Games. 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. Speaking in a video ahead of the ceremony, Bhaker said that realising that she was chosen as one of the flag-bearers left her with a "heartwarming" feeling, and all she could experience was flashbacks of her early days in the sport and reflections on how far she has come. "Honestly, when I found out yesterday, I had all these flashback memories of my earlier days. And, you know, when I started, I never thought that this was where I could reach one day in my sport. So, it is definitely a very heartwarming feeling. I feel really proud, really honoured, and really, really happy to be chosen as the flag bearer for my country. I just want to say thank you to God and thank you to everyone for all the love and support," she said. Pawan, now the male flag-bearer replacing shot put star Tajinderpal Singh Toor due to technical issues, 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 the men's competition. India will be aiming to outdo the 2022 edition, where they secured a record-breaking 107 medals, including 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze. (ANI)
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