India has made a last-minute change to their flag-bearers for the Asian Games 2026 opening ceremony in Nagoya. The kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat will be replacing shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor. Sehrawat will now lead Manu Bhaker in the Indian contingent at the ceremony on Saturday, September 19.
Toor was initially selected to carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony alongside Bhaker. But the two-time Asian Games gold medallist will not attend the ceremony after a delay in receiving his official ceremonial kit. The Indian Olympic Association described the issue as a technical problem, while Toor said that his kit would not arrive to Nagoya airport until 3 pm on Saturday.
Because of the opening ceremony on the same day, Toor said it would be difficult to get the kit from the airport and reach the venue in time. He later told the Indian Olympic Association he would not attend the ceremony.
“My kit is lying in India. Nobody in the athletics team has got their kits so far,” Toor said, adding that the issue was not just for him. He also said he was only told about his selection as flag-bearer on Friday. If he had received the information before then his coach, who had already reached Japan, could have collected the kit for him.
Pawan Sehrawat Steps In
The late change means Pawan Sehrawat will now get to carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The 30-year-old kabaddi player was part of India's gold medal-winning men's kabaddi team at the Asian Games and is among the country's top kabaddi players.
Sehrawat’s selection gives India a different sporting representation alongside Manu Bhaker, who remains the women’s flag bearer. Bhaker, a double Olympic medallist from the Paris 2024 Games, was already announced as one of India’s flag-bearers before the change in Toor.
He made it a priority for Toor to represent India at the opening ceremony, after being one of the country’s top athletes at the Asian Games. He is also going to do the shot put event, so he will have to focus on his sport.
Athletics Team Yet to Reach Nagoya
The timing of the change is linked to the athletics contingent’s preparation schedule. The Indian athletics team has been training at the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo since September 13 as part of an acclimatisation camp. The team is scheduled to arrive in Nagoya on September 21, two days before the athletics events begin.
Toor's comments reveal that the delayed distribution of official kits affected the athletics contingent more broadly. Since the athletes had remained at their training base near Tokyo, logistical arrangements around their arrival in Nagoya and participation in the opening ceremony became particularly important.
The last-minute flag-bearer change came after news of other logistical hurdles in the start of the Asian Games. A traditional flag-hoisting ceremony involving participating contingents was delayed and temporarily disrupted on Friday before eventually taking place.
Toor's Attention Turns To Competition.
Toor will be absent from the opening ceremony but that doesn’t mean he will be out of the Asian Games. The shot putter is still part of India’s athletics team and will be focusing on his sport once the athletics program begins.
For Sehrawat, however, it is another memorable chapter to his Asian Games career. In the last edition, he helped India win gold in men’s kabaddi and now he will be leading the country’s contingent alongside Bhaker at the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony will officially start the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with Indian athletes preparing to compete in various categories. Toor will not carry the flag as originally planned; Pawan Sehrawat will take over the duty as India's male flag-bearer for this ceremony.
