Asian Games 2026 Live Updates: Manu Bhaker reflects on being chosen as India's flag-bearer for Asian Games 2026 opening ceremony Indian double Olympic medalist and Asian Games gold medalist shooter Manu Bhaker expressed happiness at being one of the flag-bearers for the Indian contingent for the Asian Games 2026 opening ceremony, saying that it feels "heartwarming". The star shooter also recalled some special memories attached with opening ceremonies at multi-sporting events.

Manu Bhaker and kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat will be India's flag-bearers for the Asian Games opening ceremony which will take place on Saturday. Speaking in a video ahead of the ceremony, Bhaker said that realising that she was chosen as one of the flag-bearers left her with a "heartwarming" feeling, and all she could experience was flashbacks of her early days in the sport and reflecting on how far she has come."

Honestly, when I found out yesterday, I had all these flashback memories of my earlier days. And, you know, when I started, I never thought that this was where I could reach one day in my sport.

So, it is definitely a very heartwarming feeling. I feel really proud, really honoured, and really, really happy to be chosen as the flag bearer for my country.

I just want to say thank you to God and thank you to everyone for all the love and support," she said. Manu said that during her first Asian Games back in 2018, she was a teenager and missed the opening ceremony.

She recalled attending the opening ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and being told by her coach and late shooting legend Jaspal Rana not to attend the opening ceremonies if she was not a flag-bearer, due to how the event could take a toll on her physical health ahead of her matches." I remember I was 16 years old during my first Asian Games, and this is my third.

My first one was in Jakarta, though we were in Palembang, which was really far from the main village, so we couldn't attend. The first ceremony I ever attended was at the Commonwealth Games.

After that, my coach, Jaspal Sir, told me, " If you are the flag bearer, then I will allow you to attend the ceremonies; otherwise, no," because our matches usually start on Day one or Day two, so it gets very hectic for us in shooting," she recalled." Usually, our competitions start right the day after the opening ceremony.

So after that, it turned out that every time I attended an opening ceremony, I was either holding the flag or watching it on TV. It feels very nostalgic because I never imagined I would be here one day.