Sindhu, Singh to lead Team India at C'wealth Games
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced Mr Manpreet Singh, the captain of the men's hockey team, as a Flagbearer of Team India for the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games alongside shuttler PV Sindhu.
The decision to name Singh, who led the Indian men's hockey team to a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year, as the second Flagbearer for the said occasion was arrived at after the IOA was intimated by the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee that two Flagbearers - one male and one female - must be named by each nation for the Opening Ceremony. The four-member committee, comprising IOA Acting President Anil Khanna, IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta, IOA Treasurer Anandeshwar Panday, and Team India Chef de Mission Rajesh Bhandari, named PV Sindhu as the first Flagbearer earlier in the day was also in charge of selecting Singh as a Flagbearer.
The selection process followed for zeroing in on the male flagbearer was the same as naming the female flagbearer. The four-member committee had initially shortlisted Singh alongside boxer Amit Panghal and paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal before Khanna and Mehta chose Singh for the honour.
IOA Acting President Anil Khanna: "Manpreet Singh ended Indian hockey's 41-year Olympic medal drought with a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics last year. He is one of the finest athletes to have ever represented India on the international stage. We are delighted to name him and Sindhu as the two Flagbearers who will lead the Indian contingent out at the Parade of Nations tomorrow during the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games."
IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta: "As with the three female shortlisted athletes, their three male counterparts were all deserving candidates, but we decided that Singh be named a Flagbearer with Sindhu because of the leadership he showed at Tokyo 2020, which played a part in our men's hockey team clinching a sensational bronze medal."
(ANI)