Gymnastics
'Happy, but I am focused on upcoming events," says Pranati Nayak after winning World Cup bronze
Pranati Nayak became only the third Indian woman to win a medal at the FIG World Cup.
FILE PHOTO: Pranati Nayak (Source: Pragativadi)
Indian Gymnast Pranati Nayak, on Saturday, bagged a bronze medal in the vault vent at the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, with a score of 13.620.
With this feat, she became only the third Indian woman to win a medal at the FIG World Cup.
The 28-year-old, who trains at the Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High-Performance Centre, qualified for the vault final after finishing seventh with a score of 13.166 on Friday.
Earlier in January, Pranati bagged two medals - gold in vault and bronze in balance beam - at the Senior Artistic Gymnastics National Championship held at the Gymnastics Centre in Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
The Olympian will compete in the upcoming legs of the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan (March 7 to 10), and Doha, Qatar (April 17 to 20).
The points accumulated from the World Cup series will contribute to the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Speaking after the bronze medal-winning performance, Pranati, who represents Odisha at the national events, expressed her gratitude to everyone who helped achieve the medal.
"I would like to thank everyone for their support. I'm happy with the performance, but I've got two more events, so just focused on that,' she said.
Ashok Mishra, chief coach of Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High-Performance Centre, is happy with his ward's showing in Cairo.
"I'm really happy with Pranati's performance. The hard work done at the Gymnastics High Performance Centre in Odisha is paying off and we are on the right path. We still have two more events and the focus will be improving the performance," said Mishra.
Vineel Krishna, the secretary of Odisha's Sports and Youth Services Department, also congratulated Pranati.
"We are proud to see an athlete from our Gymnastics High Performance Centre doing well on the world stage. Our best wishes to Pranati for the upcoming crucial legs of the World Cup, and we are confident that she will make the country proud," said Krishna.
