Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak on Saturday secured a bronze medal in the Vault Final at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup in Antalya, Turkey. The 29-year-old, who represented the country at the Tokyo Olympics, came up with a total score of 13.417 in the vault final to finish third, behind American duo of Jayla Hang (13.667) and Claire Pease (13.567). “It is a great feeling to start the year with a medal. It is a good confidence booster for me. I had won last year as well, so I’m feeling really happy,” Nayak, who had scored 13.317 in the vault qualification, told PTI from Antalya.
“My eyes are now on winning medals at Asia Championships and World championships, that’s the target for the year,” she added.
Pranati had clinched the bronze medal in the women’s vault event of the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Cairo before the Paris Olympics last year.
She also won vault bronze medals at the Asian Championships in 2019 (Ulaanbaatar) and 2022 (Doha).
Nayak has battled through a series of injuries and was left disheartened after missing out on a berth for the Paris Olympics. However, with the support of her coach Ashok Kumar Mishra, she has regained her confidence.
“She has been with me for the last four years, and I am extremely pleased that she was able to secure a bronze medal this year after finishing third last year as well,” said Mishra, who now trains athletes at the Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High Performance Centre.
“It hasn’t been easy for her. She has struggled with injuries, including an elbow issue. There was a time when she considered retiring, but I kept encouraging her, telling her she still has much to offer. She delivered in the finals. Now our next goal is to make it to the finals of the World Championships,” he said.
Pranati is the third Indian gymnast to win an international medal on the vault, after Dipa Karmakar (2018 Mersin Gold, 2018 Cottbus bronze) and Aruna Reddy (2018 World Cup in Melbourne).
She competed at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, as well as at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games. Additionally, she also represented the country in the 2014, 2017, and 2019 World Championships.
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