A spectacular opening ceremony marked the start of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with the Indian contingent led by two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and men's hockey captain Manpreet Singh in the Parade of Nations.
Creator of acclaimed British crime drama 'Peaky Blinders', Steven Knight was the creative mastermind behind the ceremony that had more than 2,000 performers.
While India will see more than 200 sportspersons participate in this edition of the Commonwealth Games, many teams chose to give the late night opening ceremony a miss as they start their campaigns on Friday.
Among those who were present at the Alexander Stadium on Thursday night were the Indian men's hockey team, the boxing contingent, the badminton and squash teams.
However, the Indian women's cricket team seem to have given the event a miss as their campaign starts at 3pm IST on Friday with the opening fixture against top-ranked Australia. The table-tennis team and the lawn bowls contingent also skipped the ceremony, with events scheduled early on the first day of the games.
With an array of houses from around the Commonwealth, created using virtual reality, bringing back scenes of the bygone era to depict the most famous exports of the city and amid music, dance and a cultural milieu showcasing the life and times of the local people, the city of Birmingham welcomed 6,500 sportspersons from across 72 nations and territories for the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games at a gala opening ceremony.
The two-hour programme during which the organisers put up a carnival-like display that boasted Birmingham's impressive inventions, buttons, car horns, celluloid film and printing press, paid tributes to the working class at the Alexander Stadium through a raging bull, 10 metres high and built over five months, pulled in by female chain makers who would work long hours in hot and cramped outhouses to make small chains back in the 19th century.
Then to represent the victory of the working classes, the bull shed its armour to symbolise the famous strikes of 1910 when female chain makers went on strike for better conditions -- and after 10 weeks they won, earning a new minimum wage that doubled their earnings. The collapsing bull represents the victory of the working classes over their employers.
The Royal guests, HRH Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall entered in the Prince's own Aston Martin he bought in the 1970s while the Birmingham Royal Ballet presented amazing athleticism. The multi-cultural identity of the city was presented through an inspiring speech by child rights and education activist Malala Yousafzai, winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
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