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In their 25th appearance in the Olympics Games India's biggest ever contingent walked in for the parade in Tokyo Olympics' Opening Ceremony, with Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh leading the way.
The Indian contingent 127 athletes off which 56 are women - the highest female representation. At the ceremony, 19 athletes and 6 officials took part for India.
The six officials who are part of the marchpast in the opening ceremony for India will be Chef de Mission Birender Prasad Baishya, Deputy Chef de Mission Dr Prem Verma, Team doctor Dr Arun Basil Mathew, manager of table tennis team MP Singh, boxing coach Muhammad Ali Qamar, and gymnastics coach Lakhan Sharma.
The opening ceremony kicked off with a delightful light and sound performance after which the Japan Emperor Naruhito and IOC President Thomas Bach, all of whom stood for the national anthem of Japan as the flag was brought in after the musical performance. The Japanese national anthem was sung by Shirō Sagisu before there was a minute's silence observed for those who died due to the pandemic.
One of the highlights of the parade was Hend Zaza is the youngest flagbearer as the 12-year-old table tennis player jointly carries the flag for Syria with Ahmad Saber Hamcho.
The Jamaican contingent walked in with Yohan Blake as one of the flagbearer missing the usually unmissable Usain Bolt.
China have sent a contingent of more than 400 people and will be looking to bag as many medals as possible. They’re one of the powerhouses of Olympic sports.