India name Chef de Missions for Commonwealth and Asian Games 2022
Rakesh Anand and Bhupender Singh Bajwa will be India’s Chef de Mission for the Commonwealth Games 2022 and Asian Games 2022, respectively.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), on Tuesday, announced the Chef de Missions for the country’s contingents at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.
IOA senior vice-president Rakesh Anand has been chosen as India’s Chef de Mission for CWG 2022 which will be held in Birmingham, UK from July 28 to August 8. Bhupender Singh Bajwa, president of the Wushu Association of India, meanwhile, will shoulder the responsibilities at this year’s Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25.
A country’s Chef de Mission leads their respective contingent and is responsible for ensuring athletes and the coaching staff have all amenities required to perform at their best. They take care of planning, communication and logistics for the team during the sporting events.
Names of the general team managers for the Commonwealth Games and deputy Chefs de Mission for the Asian Games were also announced.
Rajesh Bhandari (secretary general of the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association’s and vice-president of the Boxing Federation of India), Prasant Kushwaha (secretary general of the Kayaking and Canoeing Association of India) and Chiranjib Choudhary, (secretary general of the Meghalaya Olympic Association and vice-president of the Table Tennis Federation of India) have been chosen as team managers for the CWG 2022.
Ajay Kumar Singhania (secretary general of the Badminton Association of India), Swapan Banerjee (president of the Bengal Olympic Association), Gurudatta Bhakta (secretary general of the Goa Olympic Association) and Hariom Kaushik (executive board member of the Netball Federation of India), meanwhile, will assist Bajwa during the Asian Games.
After a record Olympics medal haul at Tokyo 2020 last year, India will look to build on the success at this year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games. At the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast, Australia, India finished third on the medals table with 66 medals – 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.
At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, Indian athletes won 70 medals – 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze – to finish eighth on the medals table.
Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will be the defending men’s javelin throw champion at both the CWG and Asian Games this year.