Sports / Mary Kom, Manpreet Singh carry India's flag at Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony

Six-time world champion boxer Mary Kom and Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh carried India's flag during the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics today. A total of 19 Indian athletes and six officials were part of the Indian contingent in the parade. India were the 21st out of 205 contingents to enter the parade.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jul 23, 2021, 06:05 PM
Tokyo: India archers Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav, and Tarundeep Rai opened India's campaign at the Tokyo 2020. Now, the focus will be on the spectacle of the Opening Ceremony, where 25 members of the Indian contingent in Tokyo will come out. India men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh and India boxing star Mary Kom will be the flagbearers from India.

The Tokyo Olympics, delayed by a year and hit by unexpected COVID-19 breakout, are finally set to get underway from July 23 with the much-awaited opening ceremony at Japan National Stadium. The ceremony will be held mostly without spectators to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections, although some officials, guests and media will attend.

In its 100-year-old Olympic journey, India has bagged 28 medals at the quadrennial event, both in the individual and team events, which include nine gold, seven silver, and 12 bronze medals. Indian paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra, who are set to represent the country in mixed doubles, have decided against attending the ceremony as they have their opening match the following day.