Dipa skips trials, CWG comeback doubtful

NEW DELHI: India’s top woman gymnast Dipa Karmakar has opted out of the three-day selection trials for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games that began at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex on Monday. The Tripura gymnast, who finished fourth in the vault event at the Rio Olympics, has cited a lack of fitness.

The 24-year-old had undergone knee surgery last April and has been undergoing rehabilita- tion. “She has starting training, but not at full throttle. We don’t want to take a chance at the moment as vaulting is very stressful to the injured knee,” said her coach BS Nandi.

With the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) due to select the final team this week, Dipa will not get a chance to join the national squad. “We will not have another selection during the camp,” said GFI secretary general, Shantikumar Singh.

Dipa could still make it to the CWG. Nandi said artistic events are scheduled to be held from April 5 and that gives him time to evaluate Dipa’s performance and take a final decision. “We will see how things pan out in the coming days and take a call,” he said.

At the 2014 Glasgow CWG, Dipa was the only gymnastics squad member to win a medal, claiming bronze in vault. Recovering from knee surgery at 24 is not easy as vault is taxing on the knees and her chances of participation look slim. On Monday, trials were held in rhythmic gymnastics. Selection for the artistic team will happen in the next two days. Dipa is likely to take time to return, but India’s top gymnasts will compete in the national championships in Mohali from February 16-18. According to Samir Dev, an organising committee official, the nationals is being held after four years. “Due to a legal battle between the warring factions of GFI, the national competition took a back seat,” he said. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had set up an ad hoc panel to oversee the running of the federation.