The team from India arrives on stage during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)King Charles III declared the 23rd Commonwealth Games open in the presence of Queen Camilla, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Commonwealth Sport President Donald Rukare at the OVO Hydro, marking the second time the Scottish city has hosted the multi-sport event in 12 years.
The British monarch read out the message he had placed into the King’s Baton on Commonwealth Day (March 10, 2025) at Buckingham Palace. This marked the official opening of the Games, which will continue until August 2. It is the first-ever Commonwealth Games opening ceremony to be staged inside an indoor arena.
Led by Olympic medallists Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain as flag and baton bearers, the Indian contingent entered to huge cheers. The male members were dressed in formal suits and the female participants were in traditional sarees and blazers. India is being represented by 123 athletes in eight able-bodied and five para sports.
FOLLOW COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2026 OPENING CEREMONY BELOW.
Another musical performance now as Tom Walker is on stage with his guitar now and he sings ‘Leave the Light Out’. He leaves and the headline act KT Tunstall will close out this enthralling ceremony. She sings 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' then a mash up of 'No Scotland No Party' and 'Seven Nation Army' and ends with her mega-hit 'Suddenly I See'.
After she is done, it's Nathan Evans and The Saint PHNX Band on stage again and they finish with Home.
The King's baton has arrived and King Charles III is on the podium now for his speech. And he declares the 3rd Commonwealth Games open. So, it begins.
"Over the next ten days, we will certainly thrive here in Glasgow, as the city once again, following its proud hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, welcomes the Commonwealth family with warm hearts and open arms. I extend my warmest gratitude to the city of Glasgow, to all the athletes, to the organisers, volunteers and all who have made this event possible. As we share our love of sport, and our planet, let us build a harmonious and durable future, for our families and each other. It is now my great pleasure to declare the twenty-third Commonwealth Games open," he said.
Nina Nesbitt is out next performing ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)’. If you have seen How I Met Your Mother, you will be familiar with this. Marshal and Ted's friendship on the show was basically built on this song. It was written and performed by Scottish duo the Proclaimers and was first released in August 1988. So, there's your Scotland connection.
Dr Donald Rukare, President of Commonwealth Sport and George Black CBE, Chair of Glasgow 2026 are now currently delivering their speeches welcoming the athletes.
The Commonwealth Flag is brought out next and hosted as the crowd claps. Followed by the three oath takers: Paul Foster MBE, Robyn Love and Leslie Roy MBE. We'll now have speeches to declare the Games open.
There are performers dressed as unicorns dancing on stage as Callum Beattie comes on stage to sing Yes Sir, I Can Boogie. Unicorns are Scotland's national animal btw if you were wondering.
Nathan Evans and The Saint PHNX now on stage and performs their song Home as the ceremony rolls on. Before that we saw people enacting meeting under the clock in Glasgow Central.
As the contingents have all come out, we will now have the performances as the giant screen plays the sights and sounds of Scotland ft The Lochness Monster of all things, who is also called Nessie as the bagpipes' score blares out the Flower of Scotland
Cyprus come out first, followed by England, Gibralter, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Wales and the host nation Scotland, cheered loudly, as expected.
Australia the first nation out to big cheers as well. They are followed by Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Naoeru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands among others
Anguilla first, followed by Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands. Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands
Here's who we were waiting for!!! India make their way in with huge cheers. Mirabai Chanu and L;ovlina Borgohain enter with the Indian flag, followed by the 126-strong contingent.
Bahamas make the first entry, followed by Beliz, Bermuda, Canada, Falkland Islands, Guyana, St Helena
First Botswana, then Cameron, followed by Eswatini and Gabon enter as we begin alphabetically. Kenya, Lesotho and Malawi, Mauritius, Ghana and Mozambique also also out. They are followed by Nigeria, Namibia Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zmibia are among others.
Valtos is performing as the Commonwealth nations are welcomed on the stage to loud cheers. No signs of India till now though.
And we are underway as Sr Who's Tardis makes an appearance in the opening video in a tour of Scotland and then reappears on our stage. The King and Queen exit from the Tardis and take their seat alongside Prime minister Andy Burnham and the national anthems follow as God Save Our King is sung by a choir.
Sri Lankan-American UCLA artistic gymnast Tiana Sumanasekara went viral earlier this summer at the NCAA Regionals, linking the ballad ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’ with the upbeat ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ before moving into the dramatic ‘Dola Re Dola’, earning a career-high score of 9.95. Bollywood hits have always carried the rhythm that elevates a competitive floor exercise routine, pepping it up as flying gymnasts go in search of perfection. (READ MORE)
Indian contingent ready for the Opening Ceremony.
We are all set for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games here at Glasgow #teamindia @Media_SAI @BFI_official @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/HYoGSydnLY
— Lovlina Borgohain (@LovlinaBorgohai) July 23, 2026
No country will feel the cuts quite like India. Before the contingent departed, a sports ministry official requested the media not to ‘panic’ by looking at the medals table. When the count begins, India might not feature in the top five, as it usually does. Badminton, hockey, wrestling, table tennis, squash and cricket, the sports that delivered nearly half of India’s 61-medal haul in Birmingham, now aren’t on the Glasgow programme. Of the 210 athletes India sent to Birmingham in 2022, close to half competed in disciplines that no longer exist at these Games. (READ MORE)
*Men's team final and individual qualification -- Tapan Mohanty, Swathish KP, Tapeshwarnath Das, Yogeshwar Singh -- 5:00pm PARA SWIMMING:
*Men's S13 100m Freestyle Heats: Ravi Veera Venkata Bhavani Karthik Budigina and Imam Ali (3:40pm)
SWIMMING:
*Men's 50m Backstroke Heats: Srihari Natraj: 3:56pm
PARA POWERLIFTING:
*Men's Lightweight Final: Ashok and Parmjeet Kumar (5:40pm) *Women's Lightweight Final: Jaspreet Kaur and Suman Devi (7:24pm) *Women's Heavyweight Final: Kasthuri Rajamani (10:40pm) *Men's Heavyweight Final: Sudhir and Jhandu Kumar (00:29am July 25)
LAWN BOWLS:
*Women's Pairs Section match: India vs South Africa (7:30pm) *Men's Singles Section match: Putul Sonowal vs Cecil Alexander (Falkland Islands) (10:20pm)
BOXING:
*Men's 55kg Round of 32: Jadumani Singh vs Aaron Cullen (Scotland) at 11:00pm.
Even before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games were declared open on Thursday, the Indian contingent suffered a setback after two of its medal prospects – one each in weightlifting and judo – were withdrawn following anti-doping rule violations. (READ MORE)
Putul Sonowal stunned 2023 world champion Ryan Bester of Canada in tie-break in Lawn Bowls Men’s Singles as India began their Glasgow Commonwealth Games campaign on a confident note on Thursday. Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh also won their Women’s Pairs opening match against Malta in tie-break as Lawn Bowls competition kicked off the Games.
Star Indian pugilist Lovlina Borgohain is already assured of a medal for India at the Commonwealth Games 2026 without even stepping into the ring or landing a single punch. On Thursday, the day the CWG 2026 gets underway in Glasgow, the boxer from Assam received a direct entry into the semifinals of the women’s 75kg event, which guarantees her at least a bronze. (READ MORE)
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and Boxer Lovlina Borgohain ready to represent India at the Opening Ceremony
We are ready for CWG opening ceremony @LovlinaBorgohai pic.twitter.com/q2bYce0kkY
— Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (@mirabai_chanu) July 23, 2026
As for the performers, the Opening Ceremony will be headlined by Scottish singer KT Tunstall. Other performers will be Callum Beattie, Nina Nesbitt, Nathan Evans and Saint PHNX as well as Valtos. Valtos is expected to perform during the Parade of Nations.
It's finally time for this edition's watered down Commonwealth Games to begin as we get ready for the Opening Ceremony, set to emanate from OVO Hydro on Wednesday night. India have sent a contingent of 126 athletes, significantly lesser than the one that was sent to Birmingham for 2022. This was the result of the sport count has dropped from 17 to 10 with badminton, hockey, wrestling, table tennis, squash and cricket all excluded. Lovlina Borgohain and Mirabai chanu will be India's flag bearers for the opening ceremony. Follow our live blog to find out how the ceremony unfolds.
An Indian team member, who was in Glasgow 12 years ago as well, couldn’t help but compare the mood then and now upon reaching Scotland’s largest city. “In 2014,” he says, “the central square was a lively place where everyone congregated, creating a party atmosphere. When I passed it today, all I heard was drilling sounds, the road was dug up, and it was out of bounds.”
It isn’t a lament so much as a statement of fact. Exactly 12 years ago, during the opening ceremony of the previous Glasgow Commonwealth Games on July 23, 2014, Rod Stewart stood on a stage inside Celtic Park and belted out ‘Can’t Stop Me Now’ to a crowd that brought the proverbial roof off. As the flame reached Glasgow for Thursday night’s opening, the loudest noise this time is of the heavy construction machinery. (READ MORE)
