Dipa Karmakar in India gymnastics team for Asian Games 2023 - full squad
Dipa Karmakar topped the selection trials. India have named a nine-member team - five men and four women - for the Hangzhou 2023 Games.
Artistic Gymnastics
Olympian Dipa Karmakar made the nine-member Indian gymnastics team for the Asian Games 2023 scheduled in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China, from September 23 to October 8.
The team was announced by the Gymnastics Federation of India following the conclusion of the selection trials at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Wednesday.
The Indian team for the continental showpiece event comprises five men and four women. The 29-year-old Dipa Karmakar, who was returning to action after serving a 21-month doping ban, topped the selection trials with an all-round score of 47.05.
“It is not easy to make a comeback after such a long time, so I am very happy,” Dipa Karmakar’s coach Bishweshwar Nandi told PTI. “She still is not at her best and has slight pain in her right knee but there is time and I am sure, she will only get better from here on.”
Pranati Das (45.80) finished second behind Dipa Karmakar in the trials. Protistha Samanta also made the team after finishing third in the vault event.
Tokyo Olympian Pranati Nayak did not participate in the two-day trials but sealed their place in the team for the Hangzhou Games based on her score (44.43) in the Asian Championships 2023 held in Singapore last month.
In the men's senior Individual category, Haryana’s Yogeshwar Singh (76.30) and Odisha’s Rakesh Patra (76.20) and Tapan Mohanty (74.60) sealed the top three spots. Yogeshwar Singh, too, did not take part in the trials and his score at the Asian championships was considered for selection.
Gymnast Satyajit Mondal, who participated in the Commonwealth Games 2022, was selected in the team despite suffering an injury during the vault section of the trials. His final selection will be down to his fitness ahead of the Asian Games. Anas Ali Shaikh has been named as the reserve athlete for Mondal.
India have only won a solitary gymnastics medal at the Asian Games. Ashish Kumar clinched the bronze in floor exercise at Guangzhou 2010.
Ashish Kumar was part of the selection trials in Bhubaneswar but missed out on a spot this time.
Indian gymnastics team for Asian Games 2023
Men: Yogeshwar Singh, Rakesh Patra, Tapan Mohanty, Gaurav Kumar, Satyajit Mondal.
Reserves: Anas Ali Shaikh (reserve for Satyajit Mondal), Saif Tamboli
Women: Dipa Karmakar, Pranati Das, Pranati Nayak, Protistha Samanta
Reserve: Bidisha Gayen