India have named their flag bearers for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics with veteran boxer MC Mary Kom and Indian hockey team captain Manpreet Singh set to pick the national flag at the opening ceremony this year. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) named the country’s flag bearers for the Games on Monday (July 05). 2008 Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was India’s flagbearer at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

IOA on Monday confirmed that Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh will be India’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics while star wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the Olympics. 

In an official letter, IOA president Narinder Batra confirmed India’s flag bearers for the Games and also stated that there will be around 126 athletes and 75 officials who will be traveling to Tokyo as part of the Indian contingent. The Indian athletes will compete for about 85 medal positions.

Bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympics, six-time world champion Mary Kom will be eyeing her first Olympic gold medal this year. Mary Kom will be competing in the women’s 51kg category and will be looking to script history in Tokyo. She is one of India’s biggest medal hopes at the Games and had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in March this year after a comfortable win over Philippines’ Irish Magno in the semi-final of the Asian qualifiers.

Manpreet will be leading the Indian men’s hockey team at the Olympics. Hockey India has already named a 16-member men’s hockey squad that will be gunning for glory in Tokyo this year. The men’s hockey team had reached the quarterfinals at the 2016 Rio Olympics and will be looking to better their performance this year.

In the lead-up to the Olympics, the men’s hockey team has displayed great consistency and has done well against top teams like Belgium and Argentina to ignite hopes of a medal in Tokyo