SAI to hold camp before gym Worlds

New Delhi: The Sports Authority of India has decided to hold a 16- day senior national gymnastics coaching camp for men and women here from Wednesday ahead of the 48th Artistic World Championship. SAI had conducted a trial for the October 25November 3 Doha event on Saturday, which was skipped by top gymnasts Rakesh Patra and Dipa Karmakar. While Patra boycotted the trial after being frustrated by the “absurdity” of the selection criteria, Dipa missed it due to fitness issues. Interestingly, SAI had initially said that the Indian team for World Championship will consist of 2 men and 2 women gymnasts and gave the dictat to select the team on all- around basis instead of judging the athletes on the performance of individual events, which left many gymnasts stumped. However, Dr Rajinder Pathania, project officer ( teams) in his letter on Monday included three men and three women in the list of campers for the coaching camp at the IG stadium. The women’s team comprise Pranati Das, B Aruna Reddy and Papiya Das, while the men’s team consists of Aditya Singh Rana, Gaurav Kumar and Abhijeet Kumar. The coaches panel will include G. S. Bawa, Jay Chakarvarti, BL Bhayskar and Rajib Saha.