Tokyo Olympics: Indian contingent checks in, smooth ride to Games Village

The group travelling from India included archers, badminton players, table tennis players, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, and qualifiers from judo, gymnastics, and swimming among others. They landed in the Japanese capital aboard a chartered Air India flight from New Delhi.

Excited and cautious in equal measure, the first batch of athletes from India’s Olympic contingent arrived in Tokyo on Sunday (July 18), clearing the exhaustive COVID-19 related protocols at the airport before entering the Games village on a day when two sportsperons staying there tested positive for the dreaded virus. The 88-strong contingent from India, which left last night after a grand send-off, was joined by the shooters and boxers who were training in Italy and Croatia till Saturday. The group travelling from India included archers, badminton players, table tennis players, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, and qualifiers from judo, gymnastics, and swimming among others. They landed in the Japanese capital aboard a chartered Air India flight from New Delhi. “It was a six hour wait at the (Tokyo) airport where we underwent COVID-19 tests but that was expected. All came out clear and we have checked into the Games village. All smooth so far,” a contingent member told news agency PTI.