Indian contingent’s flag-hoisting at Nagoya’s Garden Pier delayed amid confusion ahead of Asian Games opening

The Indian contingent was formally welcomed at a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Garden Pier near Nagoya port, Japan, on September 18, 2026, but the proceedings were disrupted by delays and confusion ahead of the Asian Games opening ceremony. The ceremony involved several national delegations and ran late as organisers struggled with logistics.

Chaos in Aichi-Nagoya continued a day before the Games’ formal opening on Saturday, September 19, 2026, when the official welcome for multiple nations, including India, was affected by disruptions. India was grouped with North Korea, Yemen, Palestine, Timor-Leste and Taiwan for a flag-hoisting scheduled at the Garden Pier — where the container accommodation is — at 1:30 p.m. local time in the second session of the day. Organisers’ disorganised planning meant the ceremony did not take place before 2:30 p.m., with a sequence of stops, starts and reversals.

Delegations arrived on time and remained assembled near the flag-hoisting area for at least half an hour before proceedings moved. India’s delegation kept waiting; chef-de-mission Sahdev Yadav and deputy chef-de-missions Anjali Bhagwat, Alakananda Ashok, Lijo David Thottan and A. Sharath Kamal were about to step onto the raising area but were then asked to return to the waiting area for further communication.

“There is some problem, but we don’t know what it is. We are also trying to find out,” volunteers and officials at the venue said when asked for an explanation. A statement from the organisers later clarified: “The communication between the Olympic Council of Asia Executive Board and Organising Committee was not well... that’s why this happened.”

Sahdev Yadav acknowledged he had not previously encountered a situation like this. At Aichi-Nagoya, however, it was described in coverage as another in an already long list of issues affecting this edition of the Games.

The delays at the Garden Pier unfolded on September 18, 2026, a day before the Asian Games’ formal opening ceremony scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2026.