Manu Bhaker, Tajinderpal Singh Toor named India’s flag bearers for Asian Games opening ceremony

The Asian Games opening ceremony scheduled for Saturday will have double Olympic medallist pistol shooter Manu Bhaker and shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor as India’s flag-bearers.

The opening ceremony will be held between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm at the Mizuho Stadium.

More than 500 Indian athletes are set to participate across 37 sports at the 20th edition being held in Japan, which will conclude on October 4.

Manu Bhaker scripted history, becoming the first Indian athlete in the post-independence era to win two medals at once at the Olympic Games in Paris, where she bagged bronze medals in the 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed event. At the Hangzhou edition of the continental games, she participated in the gold medal-winning 25m women’s team.

Toor is a two-time defending champion in shot put at the Asian Games.

The Asian Games are the biggest sports competition conducted once in four years.

Organised under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), this edition brings together 45 countries and regions competing across 43 sports — a scale that underlines just how far the Asian Games have grown since their earliest days. It marks the 20th edition of the Games overall, and fittingly, Japan gets its third turn at the helm, having previously played host in Tokyo back in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.