PV Sindhu to be India's flag-bearer in opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games 2022

Shuttler PV Sindhu will be India's flag-bearer in the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022. The star Indian shuttler has replaced javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who has been ruled out of the event due to fitness issues.

Neeraj, who won a gold medal in the previous event held in Australia, was confirmed to be India's flag-bearer. With him ruled out, Sindhu has been picked to do the job. The 27-year-old won a silver medal in the previous event. She lost to Saina Nehwal in the final of CWG 2018.

One of the strongest contenders to win a medal in the quadrennial event, Sindhu has been in form in past one year. The only Indian female athlete to win two medals in Olympics, Sindhu clinched a bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020. She recently won Singapore Open. She won the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open earlier in the year.

Sindhu will kick off her CWG 2022 campaign on August 3. The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday (July 28) at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

After being ruled out of CWG, Neeraj released a statement on social media and wrote that he is disappointed after missing out on opportunity to be the country's flag-bearer.

"I have discussed this with my support team and the IOA, AFI, and SAI's CAIMS, and we've collectively decided that keeping my long-term goals in mind, it would be best for me to skip the CWG in order to avoid risking any further aggravation of the injury. Needless to say, I am hurt about not being able to defend my title and missing out on another opportunity to represent the nation. I am especially disappointed about losing out on the opportunity to be Team India's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, an honour I was looking forward to having in a few days' time," a part of his statement read.