Rani Rampal, the captain of the Indian women’s hockey team on Saturday has been chosen as the country’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremony at the 18th Asian Games in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.
“Rani will be the flag-bearer for tomorrow’s ceremony,” Narinder Batra, the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), as quoted by The Times of India said.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra held the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the competition. Later, Chopra went on to bag the gold medal.
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Rani’s Indian hockey team reached the final before they were defeated by Japan and thus had to settle for the silver medal.
The women’s hockey team reached the finals for the first time in 20 years and their silver medal finish also betters their performance at the Asian Games four years ago in Incheon when they had won the bronze.
The scope of selection of the athlete who would be the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony was cut short to a limited number as many out of the 550 plus athletes who were part of the Indian contingent has already flown back home after the completion of their respective events. The availability of the athletes was thus the factor in the decision making.
Ultimately, it was decided upon that the 23-year Rani would be the flag-bearer.