While the Asian Games already kicked off its campaign yesterday, on September 17, two days ahead of the official opening ceremony, the flagbearers for the 19 September event have been revealed.
Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and two-time Asian Games shot put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor will carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
India’s Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav confirmed Bhaker’s selection, while the Athletics Federation of India later named Toor as the second flagbearer. The pair will lead the Indian contingent into the ceremony on Saturday, 19 September, at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium.
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Bhaker, who created history at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She became the first athlete from independent India to win two medals at a single Games, claiming bronze in both the women’s 10m air pistol and the mixed team event. The young shooter also contributed to India’s gold-medal-winning 25m pistol team at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Toor, a reliable force in Indian athletics, enters the Games as the defending champion. He won gold in men’s shot put at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and successfully retained the title in Hangzhou in 2023. He will be aiming for a rare third consecutive Asian Games gold and will look for an historical three peat.
More than 500 Indian athletes are set to compete across 37 sports at the Games, which run from 19 September to 4 October. Both flagbearers are among India’s leading medal prospects in their respective disciplines. Meanwhile, India’s beginning of the Asian Games started positively, as Quimcy Dsouza of Teqball is just one win away from securing the country’s first medal ever in the sport, which made its debut in this edition.
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