India’s lone gymnast at Tokyo Olympics, Pranati Nayak failed to qualify for the all-round final of artistic gymnastics competition on Sunday. The 26-year-old from West Bengal recorded a total score of 42.565 over the four categories — floor exercise, vault, uneven bars and balance beam — at the Ariake Gymnastic centre. Pranati Nayak’s childhood coach Minara Begum has questioned the intent of her ward for not performing a second vault, which threw her out of the final race in the artistic gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics.
Minara was the guide of Pranati for 18 years. DeShe never let her feel the pain of leaving her parents. Minara used to care for Pranati like her own daughter. However, the Gymnastics Federation did not allow Minara to go to Tokyo. Pranati’s childhood coach was not at all happy with her performance in Tokyo.
She said, “why Pranati did only one vault? You can’t win a medal without two vaults, you can’t qualify for the next round. She usually does two vaults everywhere. Then why not here? I knew before the event, that she would do two vaults in the Olympics. After watching Pranati’s performance, the senior gymnasts also said that they never thought that she could win a medal. Her energy was low."
Minara’s question, “Is the Olympics is a place of joke? There was nothing new to learn. What she knew was that she needed to practice again and again."
Still, the people of Midnapore district of West Bengal give credit to the fight Pranati Naik put up. She herself was satisfied with own performance. Pranati said, that she only got two months for preparation before the Olympics.
Pranati’s family is also not disappointed with their daughter’s performance. On Sunday morning, Pranati’s father Srimanta and mother Pratima Nayak watched their daughter’s performance in Tokyo Olympics.
Pranati’s father said that she left SAI (Sports Authority Of India) Kolkata and came back home — where she stayed for the last one and a half years due to Corona. Although there were online classes at that time, but there was no provision for practice. It was only for two months that Pranati got the chance to practice in SAI Kolkata.
Even after that she gave a good fight with best gymnasts of the world in Tokyo. West Midnapore District gymnastics instructor said, “Our district lacks a lot of gymnastics infrastructure. If there was a gymnastics indoor stadium in the district, Pranati could practice alone with special permission during the corona period. Maybe it would have worked better for her in Tokyo."
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