Ngāti Porou will be watching proudly in 45 minutes to see its uri, squash champion Joelle King carrying the New Zealand flag at the opening of the Commonwealth Games, with Tom Walsh in Birmingham, in the UK.
The ceremony will start at 6.45am New Zealand time and can be viewed on Prime.
The flagbearers were each presented with a pounamu pendant, carved by Ngāi Tahu master carver Bevan Climo, for the opening ceremony at Alexander Stadium.
King, the world women’s No 5, is also top seed at the Games and will look to make it back-to-back gold medals in the women’s singles after beating England’s Sarah-Jane Perry in the final four years ago.
She will also team up with world men’s No 2 Paul Collin the mixed doubles hoping to best the bronze they collected on the Gold Coast at the last games.
King and Amanda Landers-Murphy, the defending women's doubles gold medallists, are also back again as a combination