Tokyo Olympics: Archers, shooters, boxers won't attend opening ceremony

Archers, shooters, boxers, and hockey squad among others from the Indian contingent will not be attending the Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony on Friday with the exception of Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh.

The athletes from the above sports along with weight lifters and Table Tennis team will also not attend the opening ceremony, a source in the know of the development told ANI.

Although the Indian Hockey captain Manpreet Singh will attend the ceremony along with the ace boxing star Mary Kom, as they are the flag bearers of the Indian contingent at the opening event.

Notably, all those who are asked to skip the opening ceremony have their respective events the following day.

Around 50 people will attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics from the Indian side in view of the COVID-19 concerns in the Japanese capital.

"Indian Olympic Association has almost decided to participate in the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics with 50 attendees," IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta told ANI. "We will try to limit the number of officials and athletes within 50 or 50 in the opening ceremony. The figure will be around 50."

In the ceremony, India is at serial number 21 in the march past. The sequence of march past is as per the Japanese alphabet and only six officials can participate from each participating nation.

( With inputs from ANI )