Tokyo 2020
Tokyo Olympics: Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra to skip the opening ceremony
Table Tennis players Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra have decided to not attend the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony
Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal
Indian paddlers A Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra have decided against attending the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday as they open their mixed doubles campaign the following day.
The names of both the players were there in the list of participants at the opening ceremony but as it turns out, it was an error on the part of the Indian officials who compiled the list.
The Asian Games bronze-medallist plays the mighty Chinese Taipei pairing of Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching in the round of 16 matches on Saturday. The pair from Chinese Taipei is seeded third and is currently number one in the world rankings.
Instead of 20 athletes, 19 will be seen at the ceremony with tennis player Ankita Raina replacing the table tennis stars. Six officials will accompany them.
Boxing great MC Mary Kom and Indian hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh will be the flag-bearers at Japan National Stadium.
Also Read: List of all the Indians participating in the opening ceremony
