National men hockey team captain Manpreet Singh, woman boxing ace MC Mary Kom and wrestling star Bajrang Punia will be the flag-bearers of India at the Tokyo Olympics Games, starting on July 23. According to Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Manpreet and Mary Com will carry the tricolor at the opening ceremony, while Bajrang will do so at the closing ceremony.

IOA president Narinder Dhruv Batra confirmed that the total contingent for the Olympics would be around 201, which includes 126 athletes and 75 officials. The contingent comprises 56 per cent men and 44 per cent women. It has 76 quota places and will compete in about 85 medal positions.

The first Indian to carry the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Games was 400m sprinter Purma Banerjee at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. As many as 17 athletes have carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the Games, with eight of them being Olympic medallists.

The 29-year-old Manpreet, who has amassed 269 international caps so far, becomes only the sixth hockey player to be named the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games. In the past, Lal Shah Bokhari (1932), Major Dhyan Chand (1936), Balbir Singh Sr (1952 & 1956), Zafar Iqbal (1984) and Pargat Singh (1996 ) have had the honour of being flag-bearers of the Indian contingent at the Olympic Games opening ceremony.