Commonwealth Games 2022 artistic gymnastics: Olympian Pranati Nayak storms into vault final 

India’s Pranati Nayak qualified for the vault final after she finished third in the event at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, UK, on Saturday.

Pranati Nayak, a Tokyo Olympian, scored 13.600 in her first vault attempt and 12.950 in her second try for an average of 13.275 at the Arena Birmingham. Shannon Archer of Scotland topped the vault apparatus with an average of 13.500.

However, with only the top eight progressing further to the next round in apparatus events, Pranati Nayak’s fellow compatriot Protistha Samanta missed out as she finished 10th with an average of 11.950 in the vault event.

Ruthuja Nataraj qualified in the women’s all-around final courtesy of finishing 16th in the field of 30 gymnasts. The top 18 gymnasts (maximum two per country) make it to the medal round in the all-around event in artistic gymnastics.

Ruthuja Nataraj scored 12.300 in vault, 11.950 on uneven bars, 11.350 on the balance beam, and 10.650 on the floor exercise for a combined total of 46.250 points.

Pranati Nayak, who also performed on all four apparatuses, scored a combined 43.500 points. Protistha Samanta competed only in vault apparatus.

In the women’s team category, the trio of Pranati Nayak, Protistha Samanta and Ruthuja Nataraj bowed out after finishing last with a combined score of 102.650 among nine teams.

In the men’s artistic gymnastics at Birmingham 2022 on Friday, Yogeshwar Singh was the only Indian to progress to the finals after he finished 18th in the all-around event.

The Indian men’s artistic gymnasts trio of Saif Tamboli, Satyajit Mondal and Yogeshwar Singh had crashed out of the men’s team events.

The Birmingham 2022 men’s and women’s all-around finals will be held on Sunday. The vault finals are scheduled for Monday.