Sindhu named India's flagbearer for CWG opening ceremony

Birmingham: Double Olympic medallist badminton ace PV Sindhu was on Wednesday named flagbearer of the Indian contingent for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games to be held here on Thursday.

"It's a great honour to be bestowed with the responsibility to lead the contingent and hold the flag at such an august gathering. I am extremely happy and I wish all my fellow contingent all the best for the Games. I would like to thank IOA also for choosing me as the Flag Bearer," Sindhu said. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, who was also the defending champion in the Commonwealth Games having won the gold in Gold Coast four years ago, was expected to be the flag-bearer.

But a groin injury following his silver medal at the World Championships forced him to pullout and the Indian Olympic Association picked Sindhu to be the flagbearer from a three-member shortlist.

Tokyo Olympics medallists -- weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and boxer Lovlina Borgohain are the other two athletes, who were also considered before IOA decided to go for Sindhu.

"It's with great pleasure that we announce PV Sindhu as the flagbearer for Team India,"acting IOA president Anil Khanna said in a release. Sindhu was also the flagbearer at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. "The other two athletes, Chanu and Borgohain, were immensely deserving too, but we went ahead with Sindhu because she is a two-time Olympic medallist. We expect Sindhu will continue to do well and perform with excellence at these Games."