Tokyo Olympics: Only 28 Indian members to attend opening ceremony

MC Mary Kom. Picture/ AFP

Team India have decided that only 28 members will attend Friday's Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. The 228-member Indian contingent, comprising 119 athletes, arrived at this decision following a meeting of the various Deputy Chef de Missions in Tokyo a day earlier where it was decided to reduce the number of members at the Opening Ceremony keeping in mind the safety aspect due to the COVID-19 situation.

Accordingly, Indian Olympic Association chief Narinder Batra has been informed that only 28 members will be part of the opening day parade at the ceremony on Friday evening.

Another reason for the reduction is numbers is that some of the Indian athletes like the shooters and the hockey teams among others have training sessions and matches the next morning (Sunday).

According to Batra, the Games Village authorities have confirmed the following numbers for participation in the opening ceremony from the Indian contingent.
1. Hockey -- 1
2. Boxing -- 8
3. Table Tennis -- 4
4. Rowing -- 2
5. Gymnastics -- 1
6. Swimming -- 1
7. Sailing -- 4
8. Fencing -- 1
9. Officials -- 6

Both the Indian flag bearers, boxing legend MC Mary Kom and hockey captain Manpreet Singh will be participating in the opening ceremony.

The athletes and officials who will not be participating belong to archery, judo, badminton, weightlifting, tennis, shooting and the men's and women's hockey teams. It is learnt that the above numbers may be subject to change but not too many additions will be permitted.

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