Why Pawan Sehrawat replaced Tajinderpal Singh Toor as India’s Asian Games flag bearer

Tajinderpal Singh Toor will not be able to lead the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the Asian Games after the celebrated bowler arrived without his ceremonial kit, forcing a late change of India’s flag bearers.Veteran kabaddi player Pawan Sehrawat has been named as Toor’s replacement and will now join shooting star Manu Bhaker to carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony on Saturday.Sehrawat, 30, was part of the Indian men’s kabaddi team that won gold at the previous Asian Games. India’s chef-de-mission Sahdev Yadav confirmed the change to PTI.Toor’s absence is the result of a logistical problem related to the party kit. The athlete said he was informed that his kit would not arrive at Nagoya Airport until 3:00 p.m., making it difficult for him to pick it up and still arrive at the opening ceremony venue on time.“I was told that my ceremonial kit will arrive at the (Nagoya) airport at 3 pm. It will be very difficult to reach the opening ceremony venue after collecting the (ceremonial) kit from the airport on time. So I told the IOA (Indian Olympic Association) that I will not come to the opening ceremony,” Toor told PTI.The athletic contingent has been stationed at the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo for an acclimatization camp since September 13. The team is scheduled to travel to Nagoya on September 21, two days before the start of the athletics events.The athletes were originally not expected to participate in the opening or closing ceremonies, and therefore did not have ceremonial equipment with them.“They will leave Nagoya on September 30, one day after the end of the track and field competition and four days before the closing ceremony (October 4),” a team official said.Toor confirmed that the ceremonial kits were not with the athletics contingent.“No one in the athletics team has ceremonial kits with them,” he revealed.However, the 75-member athletics contingent received official competition equipment. Several members of the group confirmed this to PTI.Meanwhile, the choice of Manu Bhaker as the female flag bearer was widely anticipated given her achievements on the international stage.Bhaker created history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by becoming the first athlete from independent India to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics. She won bronze in both the individual and mixed team 10m air pistol events.At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, athletics was India’s largest medal contributor with 29 medals, including six gold, 14 silver and nine bronze. Shooting brought 22 medals, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze.India finished this edition with a record total of 106 medals, including 28 gold.