Dipa Karmakar, Pranati Nayak reach vault final in Gymnastics World Cup in Cairo

Olympians Dipa Karmakar and Pranati Nayak qualified for the vault final at the FIG Apparatus World Cup, which is also a 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying event, in Cairo, Egypt on Friday.

Dipa, who famously missed out on an Olympic medal in 2016 in Rio by making a fourth-place finish, scored an aggregate of 13.449 points to finish third in the qualification round.

It was enough for her to secure a place in the final.

Pranati, on the other hand, advanced to the final with a score of 13.166. Only the top eight gymnasts are eligible to play in the final.

Dipa, who was handed a 21-month ban in February 2023 for failing a dope test conducted by the International Testing Agency, made a return to ring during the Asian Games trials. But despite topping the trials, she was deemed ineligible for India's Asian Games campaign by the sports ministry.

Dipa, however, made a comeback by winning the National Championships in an all-round event and a silver each in the vault and uneven bars.

Pranati, who became India's only second gymnast to compete at the Olympics in 2021, meanwhile, had claimed gold in the vault and bronze in the balance beam at the National Championships. She also won four gold medals and a silver at the National Games in Goa last year.