2022 Commonwealth Games | PV Sindhu and Manpreet Singh to be India’s flag-bearers in opening ceremony
India's flag bearers for the Commonwealth Games 2022 opening ceremony, which will take place on July 28 at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, will be PV Sindhu, India's badminton star, and Manpreet Singh, the captain of the Indian men's hockey team. The competition will start on the following day.
PV Sindhu, who led the delegation at the 2018 Gold Coast CWG, will carry India's flag for the second time at the opening ceremony of the CWG. Two flagbearers, one male and one female, from each nation were required to carry their respective flags at the opening ceremony by the Birmingham 2022 Games organisers.
The two female nominees for the award were fellow Olympic medalists Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain. The two male prospects were boxer Amit Panghal and seasoned table tennis player Sharath Kamal.
“The other two athletes, (Mirabai) Chanu and (Lovlina) Borgohain, were immensely deserving, too, but we went ahead with PV Sindhu because she is a two-time Olympic medallist,” said IOA acting president, Anil Khanna.
Similar to how Manpreet Singh was honoured for breaking India's 41-year medal drought at the Olympics with a bronze at Tokyo 2020 last year, India can have a maximum of 164 people during the opening ceremony, including athletes and team officials. A definitive list has not yet been created.
Neeraj Chopra, an Olympic winner, was initially expected to carry the Indian flag, but owing to an injury, the javelin ace withdrew from CWG 2022.