Indian Boxing team spearheaded by Amit Panghal and Mary Kom will depart for Tokyo Olympics from Assisi, Italy on Saturday.
Last week, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) confirmed that Mary Kom and men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh would be the flagbearers for the Indian contingent at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
"I am very happy about being given this opportunity to be the flagbearer. I want to thank each and everyone, SAI, IOA, Sports Ministry, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is not easy for everyone to be given this opportunity," Mary Kom had told ANI.
"I do not have words to express my happiness because this will be my last Olympics and being the flag bearer, it is a really big thing. Yes, expectations give pressure it's not easy to tackle it but how to handle that pressure, I have learnt," she added.
The men's boxing side comprises number one and Asian Games champion Panghal (52kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), and Satish Kumar (+91kg).
The women's squad included Mary Kom (51kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), and Pooja Rani (75kg).
The Olympic-bound contingent from India would also leave for Tokyo on Saturday.
Meanwhile, ace Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu on Friday arrived in Tokyo ahead of the Olympic Games which is all set to kick-start from July 23.
Mirabai underwent a 50-day training in the United States, under the watchful eyes of national coach Vijay Sharma and assistant coach Sandip Kumar, which was sanctioned by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), as per Olympics.com.
The 49 kg category-weightlifter is accompanied by her coaches Vijay Sharma, Sandip Kumar and Pramod Sharma along with physiotherapist Aalap Javadekar for the mega event. The Tokyo Olympics would be held from July 23 to August 8. The event was slated to be held last year, but it had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
( With inputs from ANI )
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