One word: ridiculous. That’s what the pre-Asian Games scenario has been for Indian athletes. As earlier reported by NDTV, the 35-member Indian shooting contingent faced a severe logistical nightmare upon its arrival in Japan. The group arrived on September 16 (early morning) and had to wait for hours before checking in. NDTV has accessed the booking reference list, which clearly shows that the Indian contingent had pre-booked rooms in a particular hotel.
Originally, 40 rooms were booked, as per the list given to the IOA by the organisers. But when the athletes went to the Grand Tiara Hotel, the Indian shooters were told that only seven rooms were available there, while another 33 were in a separate hotel, Toyoko Inn. Though the athletes eventually checked in, the problem did not end there. Five other members of the shooting contingent, including Rahi Sarnobat, arrived later with another batch of shooters.
But when one of the coaches went to the Grand Tiara Hotel to collect the keys to Rahi’s room, he was told that the room was no longer available as it was being used for dope control. This was despite the Indian Olympic Association booking the room and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organisers’ booking records confirming it.
Meanwhile, Rahi landed in Nagoya on Friday night and went to another Toyoko Inn hotel (there are several hotels by the same name in the city). However, instead of being told that she was at the wrong hotel, she was given the keys. So, the shooter went to the “wrong” hotel and got a room, but her room in the “right” hotel was missing. When will this mess end?
Long list of mess
Earlier, NDTV, through its ground reporting in Nagoya, learned that the Indian shooting contingent was enduring transport delays, accommodation shortages, and training disruptions ahead of the start of the Games.
The team arrived at the airport at 9:00 pm on September 15 and cleared customs by 11:00 pm, moving swiftly to the accreditation validation centre, where credentials were validated within 15 minutes. However, the smooth progression abruptly ended when athletes and coaches were left stranded at the accreditation centre without transport from 11:45 pm until 3:00 am.
Transport to the designated team hotel finally arrived at 3:00 am, reaching the property around 3:30 am. Upon arrival, the delegation was left stunned after learning that only seven rooms had been reserved for the 35 members.
IOA Intervenes
The situation became so severe that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had to intervene. Emergency accommodation was arranged across two properties 400 metres apart, with a total of 18 rooms being allocated. By the time this arrangement was finalised, the initial transport had departed.
The situation prompted athletes to manually drag their suitcases, along with heavy shooting equipment and ceremonial uniforms, along public streets in the early morning hours. Male athletes made multiple trips between the properties to assist female teammates with the heavy luggage. The contingent finally completed check-in procedures between 5:00 am and 5:30 am, more than eight hours after landing in Nagoya.
After resting on September 16, the contingent attempted to resume training on the morning of September 17, when a fresh setback occurred. Scheduled to board a 7:00 am bus to reach the shooting range by 8:20 am, the athletes encountered further delays as only one bus arrived to take them to the training centre.
Multiple team members and coaches were made to wait in line for three and a half hours, eventually boarding a bus at 10:30 am and reaching the venue at 12:30 pm.
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Topics mentioned in this article
India
Asian Games 2026
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