Privilege to be flag-bearer: Paes

A bleary-eyed Leander Paes, who will be India's flag-bearer at the march-past during Friday's Olympic Games Opening ceremony, considers it a privilege to be the one chosen for the honour.

Paes, who is yet to recover from jet lag after checking into the athletes village late Wednesday evening, told reporters at the Games village on Thursday, "This means everything to me; there is no way I was going to miss it."

The Calcutta-born tennis ace, who provided India with its first individual medal after 44 years at the quadrennial games by winning the men's singles bronze medal at Atlanta in 1996, said, "I consider it a great honour and privilege to be the country's flag-bearer."

A shaven-headed Paes, who formed such a potent combination in doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi last year till their subsequent break-up, refused to hazard a guess on what lies in store for the duo.

He said: "After a 12-week lay-off I went to Long Island for a tournament in which Mahesh and I reached the quarters. After that we lost in the first round of the US Open."

His father, team doctor Vece Paes, reached Sydney on Thursday, while Mahesh and the two lucky qualifiers in the women's doubles, Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra, are expected on Friday.

The draw for the tennis competition will be held on Friday.