A 508-member contingent begins its Aichi-Nagoya campaign missing its defending javelin champion, and even one of its two chosen flag-bearers had to step aside at the last moment
The 20th Asian Games got underway in Japan on Saturday with the opening ceremony at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, and for India, the occasion carried a mix of pride, minor drama and considerable expectation as one of the country’s largest-ever continental contingents prepared to compete across 37 sports over the coming two weeks.
Manu Bhaker and Pawan Sehrawat carrying the flag
A Flag-Bearer Swap Nobody Saw Coming
India’s build-up to the ceremony had been built around a striking pairing, double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and two-time defending shot put champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor, announced days earlier as the athletes chosen to lead the Indian contingent into the stadium. Toor did not end up making that walk, however, after his competition kit arrived late, forcing organisers to swap him out at the eleventh hour. Kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat stepped in alongside Bhaker instead, a change that added an unexpected footnote to what was meant to be a carefully choreographed moment for Indian sport. Before the reshuffle, Toor had spoken of the honour with evident emotion, calling it a dream shared by every athlete and thanking the Indian Olympic Association for the recognition. Whether he still gets that moment at a future Games or not, his shot put title defence remains firmly on India’s radar over the coming days regardless of Saturday’s late change.
A Contingent Built Around Proven Winners
India travelled to Japan with 508 athletes, one of the largest delegations the country has ever sent to the Games, under the leadership of Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav, with table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal serving as his deputy. The squad’s headline names span a wide range of disciplines. PV Sindhu leads India’s badminton hopes, Mirabai Chanu returns to weightlifting duty, Lovlina Borgohain carries India’s boxing ambitions, and Aman Sehrawat represents the country’s wrestling contingent. Bhaker herself arrives having already rewritten India’s Olympic history, becoming the first athlete from independent India to win two medals at a single Olympic Games during her breakout performance in Paris. Athletics is expected to form a particularly deep part of India’s campaign, with more than 70 track and field athletes making the trip, including distance runner Gulveer Singh, multi-discipline talent Tejaswin Shankar and high jumper Sarvesh Kushare among the names to watch closely.
A Notable Absence Looms Large
Not every star name made the trip, though. Reigning javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra will miss this edition of the Games entirely due to an ankle injury, a significant gap in a squad that otherwise counts five individual Olympic medallists among its ranks. For a country that has increasingly built its Asian Games medal narrative around Chopra’s dominance in recent years, his absence leaves an opening at the top of the podium that India’s athletics contingent will need other performers to step into.
Momentum Carried in From Elsewhere
India’s boxers arrive in Japan on the back of a strong recent run, having claimed ten medals, including seven golds, at a recent Commonwealth Games campaign, form that boxing fans will be hoping carries over onto the Asian stage. Early results from events that had already begun ahead of the formal opening ceremony offered a mixed early snapshot of India’s form, with the women’s cricket team cruising to an eight-wicket win over Japan to advance to the semi-finals, while the men’s teqball team suffered back-to-back group-stage defeats and exited before reaching the knockout rounds.
A Fortnight of Competition Now Underway
With the ceremony complete and competition now officially open, India’s campaign runs through to October 4, giving its athletes just over two weeks to convert months of preparation into medals across a genuinely broad spread of sports. Between Bhaker’s shooting campaign, Toor’s title defence, Sindhu’s badminton run and a deep athletics roster looking to partially offset Chopra’s absence, the coming days should offer an early sense of whether India can build on its historically strong showing from the last edition of the Games or whether this particular Asiad will be remembered as much for its opening-day surprises as for what unfolds on the field.
