Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and two-time Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor will carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday.
Bhaker, who claimed bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will compete in three events in Japan, the women’s 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and mixed team competition. Her two-medal haul in Paris made her the first athlete representing independent India to win two medals at one Olympic Games.
Toor will enter the Games with a chance to win his third successive Asian Games gold in men’s shot put. He topped the podium at Jakarta in 2018 and Hangzhou in 2023, where he produced a 20.36m effort.
India’s Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav announced Bhaker as a flagbearer, with the Athletics Federation of India later confirming Toor as her fellow flagbearer.
The Asian Games, scheduled from September 19 to October 4, will bring together athletes from 45 countries and regions across 43 sports and 469 medal events. More than 500 Indian athletes are expected to compete in 37 disciplines.
The contingent includes five individual Olympic medallists, although defending javelin champion Neeraj Chopra will not compete after withdrawing with an ankle injury.
PV Sindhu will headline the badminton contingent, while Mirabai Chanu will lead India’s weightlifting challenge. Boxing will feature Lovlina Borgohain, with wrestler Aman Sehrawat also part of the squad.
India will also seek to retain its crowns in men’s and women’s cricket and kabaddi, besides defending the men’s hockey title. Shreyas Iyer will captain the men’s T20 side, which includes teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, while Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the defending women’s champions.
