Dipa wins all-around national title on return, eyes Paris berth this year

Ravaged by injuries, Dipa Karmakar has been through tough times when she found even a typical gymnastic routine difficult to execute.

The national title on Friday, therefore, came as an encouraging sign as she looks to resurrect her career and qualify for the Paris Olympics.

With a broad smile on her face, Dipa stood on the podium at the Kalinga Stadium, in Bhubaneswar. “I am delighted. I was competing in the national championships after eight years and to win the all-around title was fantastic,” she said.

Dipa won the individual all-round competition with a score of 49.55. Pranati Das came second (47.00) and Swastika Ganguly finished third (45.30). In the vault and uneven bar apparatus, Dipa finished with silver medals. In vault, Pranati Nayak (13.067), who was India’s sole representative at the Asian Games, beat Dipa (12.584) for the gold medal. In uneven bars, Dipa tallied 10.433. “I was looking for some exposure since I have not competed in a long time. I did not train much but the idea was to execute the routines which I have been doing with ease in practice during the competition. I am happy that I was able to do that,” said the 29-year-old.

She has her eyes set on the World Cup series and Asian Championships where she will be up for a Paris Olympics quota. “It’s just the start of the year and I want to compete in the Asian Championships and World Cup and see if I can qualify for Paris.”

“I am happy that I was able to perform the routines without difficulty. Even to reach this level was very difficult after two surgeries (knee). I was not sure whether I would be able to do such routines again. I have put so much hard work with my coach to be able to just start competing again.”

Last year, Dipa topped the selection trials for the Asian Games but was dropped from the Hangzhou team because she did not fulfil the criteria set by the Sports Ministry. She has put the episode behind her now. “I will be able to judge myself better only after competing at the international level. I have to increase the difficulty level of my routines and that’s going to be my target in training in the next few months.”

After a sensational fourth-place finish at the Rio Olympics, Dipa has struggled with injuries. Her next best performance was a gold and bronze medal in the World Cup circuit in 2018 before knee and ankle injuries cut short her chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Dipa’s coach BS Nandi said they were not sure of participating at the National Championships until a month ago.

“We started training a few weeks back in Agartala. We first thought of participating in two apparatus but Dipa felt confident going into the competition and said ‘let me try it out.’ So, it was a good sign the way she performed and handled the pressure. Vaulting is her forte and we will increase her level before international competitions.”