Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023: Olympian Pranati Nayak to lead Indian challenge

Pranati Nayak, who participates in the vault event, won two bronze medals in the Asian championships -- one in Doha and the other in Mongolia four years ago. She is the only Indian to have won several medals from the continental competition, as per Olympics.com.

Tokyo Olympian Pranati Nayak is leading a 16-member Indian squad at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023, which kicked off at Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday. Pranati Nayak, who participates in the vault event, won two bronze medals in the Asian championships -- one in Doha and the other in Mongolia four years ago. She is the only Indian to have won several medals from the continental competition, as per Olympics.com.

The 28-year-old would like to add a third medal to her tally at the 2023 Asian Championships. Also, the top five teams at the Asian Championships will progress to the World Championships, which is a qualifier for next year's Paris 2024 Olympics. Pranati missed the World Championships 2019 but made it to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics through the continental quota.

Apart from Pranati Nayak, Pranati Das and Bidisha Gayen make up the Indian women's team at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2023. Five gymnasts -- Abhijeet Kumar, Rakesh Patra, Anas Ali Shaikh, Yogeshwar Singh, and Saif Tamboli -- make up the Indian senior men's team.

From the previous nine editions of the senior Asian championships, India have won four bronze medals. Besides the two by Pranati Nayak, Ashish Kumar (men's floor in 2006 and Rio 2016) and Olympian Dipa Karmakar (women's vault in 2015) are the other medallists.

The Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023 will be held in two phases. The junior section will be staged from June 10 to 12 while the senior section will be conducted from June 15 to 18. Carlos Yulo, a two-time world champion from the Philippines, and eight-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina will be among the top international stars to watch out for at the continental meet. (ANI)

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