NEW DELHI: Returning to action after a long lay-off of nearly two years due to injury, India’s premier gymnast Dipa Karmakar clinched the Gold medal in the vault event of FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey on Sunday.
The 24-year-old from Tripura, who had finished fourth in vault event in the 2016 Rio Olympics, scored 14.150 to win Gold, PTI reports. She had topped the qualification also with a score of 13.400.
This is Dipa’s first medal in a World Challenge Cup.
Dipa, who is being accompanied by her coach Bisheshwar Nandi, has also qualified in balance beam finals by finishing third in the qualification with a score of 11.850.
Dipa had suffered an Anetrior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury after Rio Olympics and had undergone surgery. She was initially confident of making a comeback at the Commonwealth Games but rehabilitation took more time than expected and she missed the Gold Coast event.
She has been included in the 10-member Indian gymnastics team for the upcoming Asian Games.
For the record, events at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series are divided into individual apparatus competitions (World Challenge Cups) and all-around competitions (World Cups). All of the (individual apparatus) World Challenge Cup competitions remain open to every gymnast, while all-round World Cup competitions are by invitation only, according to the results of the previous World Championships or Olympic Games.
