Tokyo Olympics: Mary Kom, Manpreet Singh to be India’s opening ceremony flag bearers, Bajrang Punia at closing ceremony

London 2012 Olympics bronze medallist Mary Kom and men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh will be India’s flag bearers in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said in a statement on Monday. Asian Games gold medal winning wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flag bearer for the closing ceremony, the IOA further said.

Mary Kom is a six-time boxing world champion and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at the Asian qualifiers in March last year. The 38-year-old has said that Tokyo 2020 will be her last appearance at the Games.

The Tokyo Games will be Manpreet’s third appearance at the quadrennial event. He took over as captain of the Indian team in 2017 and has led them to victory in the 2017 Asia Cup, 2018 Asian Champions Trophy and the FIH Series Final in 2019. The team also reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

Bajrang won bronze at the 2018 World Championships and bronze in the 2019 competition, the latter of which helped him qualify for the Olympics. The 27-year-old also has two Asian Championships gold medals to his name and won gold at the 2018 Asian Games. Bajrang is one of the leading contenders to win an individual gold for India in Tokyo.

The IOA further said that the Indian contingent will have “around 201” members which will include 126 athletes and 75 officials. “The Indian contingent comprises 56 per cent men and 44 per cent women,” it said.

Earlier, the sports ministry said that it will not be sending its delegation to this year’s Tokyo Olympics. The ministry said that it has decided to depute “maximum additional support staff” to the 100 athletes who have qualified for the Games.

“Visit of any person other than athletes, coaches and support staff will be taken up only if there is any protocol requirement. In the light of the arrangement, it has been decided not to have any Ministry delegation for the Tokyo Olympics,” said the ministry in a statement.

“Participation of the Indian Teams and sportspersons for Tokyo Olympics 2020 is being reviewed round the clock. The Ministry has decided to depute maximum additional support staff such as coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, to optimize the performance of the athletes.”

The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8. The Games were postponed from its initial dates of July 24 to August 9, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.