Manu, who won third place in women’s 10m air pistol and team events and narrowly missed another third place in the women’s 25 pistol final, enjoyed every moment of the three-hour long spectacle in front of more than 71,500 spectators, who filled the stands hours in advance for the program, that started with a musical performance followed by the entry of flagbearers from 205 delegations.
Sreejesh and Manu walked in dressed in the official team colours with ‘India’ glittering in golden bold letters on the back as loud applause rang from the hundreds of Indians who had taken their seat for the closing ceremony. “It was an unforgettable moment and I’ll always cherish this day,” Bhaker said. The 22-year-old added that it was “such a great honour to carry the national flag”.
Manu’s only disappointment was that she couldn’t capture some of the treasured moments on her mobile phone. “Manu lost her phone when she returned to Delhi. She put it in airplane mode and left it on her seat and forgot to take it with her after landing in Delhi. It was a big loss as it was the same phone that was gifted to her by the official sponsor at the Tokyo Games,” sources told TOI. “A complaint was lodged with the carrier and we searched in the lost-andfound items. But Manu’s mobile was not there,” sources added.
Sreejesh, meanwhile, had no such problems and he was seen clicking away after they took turns to wave the national flag.
Wrestler Reetika Hooda was among the lucky few in the Indian contingent who got to stay back to be part of the closing ceremony. “I felt very good to represent my country in front of such a large audience. It was a bitter sad moment for me as I missed out on a medal,” said Reetika, the first Indian wrestler to qualify in the women’s heavyweight category.
For Reetika, the big moment was not to watch Hollywood star Tom Cruise take the Games flag to Los Angeles but to meet and greet Cuban wrestling legend Mijain Lopez. Lopez won his first gold at Beijing in 2008 and he retired here after winning his fifth straight gold in the men’s Greco Roman 130-kg category. “I’m not even a big fan of Bollywood, so Hollywood is very far,” she said with a smile. “But to meet and pose for a picture with Lopez sir was a priceless moment,” she told TOI.
