Pawan Sehrawat replaces Tajinderpal Singh Toor as India’s flag-bearer for Asian Games opening ceremony
Pawan Sehrawat has been named as India's flag-bearer for the Asian Games 2026 opening ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya on September 19, replacing Tajinderpal Singh Toor; he will carry the national flag alongside shooter Manu Bhaker.
Sehrawat, 30, was part of the Indian men's kabaddi side that won gold at Hangzhou 2022 and has been named India’s vice-captain for the quadrennial Games; the source report added that he will hope to replicate that Hangzhou result in Aichi-Nagoya.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor, 31, had originally been designated as one of Team India's flag-bearers alongside Manu Bhaker; Toor is described in the report as a two-time reigning Asian Games champion who will be chasing a three-peat in Japan.
The Indian Olympic Association announced the change on Friday (September 18), and the decision coincided with Toor's discovery that his official kit remained in India. “I am told that my kit will reach at 3pm at the (Nagoya) airport. Reaching the opening ceremony venue after collecting my kit from airport on time will be very difficult. So, I have told IOA (Indian Olympic Association) that I am not coming for opening ceremony,” Toor was quoted as saying by PTI.
Toor also told PTI, “my kit is lying in India. Nobody in the athletics team has got their kits so far.” The report noted that the athletics squad, a 75-member contingent, had been training at a preparatory camp at the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo and were scheduled to reach Nagoya on September 21.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for September 19 at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Aichi-Nagoya and will begin at 6 pm local time (2:30 pm IST); the report states that wearing the official kit is one of the strict protocols for the parade. The Indian team’s kit was designed by Aaquib Wani and features a modern “Invisible Trajectories” spirograph motif.
Athletics competition at the Games is due to commence on September 23, with the men's shotput event scheduled for September 26.