CWG 2018 | Indian gymnastics team remain unsure about their participation

The 2018 Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Gold Coast, in the south-east of the Australian state of Queensland, is just around the corner. However, the Indian gymnastics team is still unsure about their participation in the mega-event which is slated to take place between April 4-15.

They (Indian gymnasts) have been practicing for the last three months, but none of them has received their games kit yet. What’s worse, the Gymnastics Federation of India has yet to recruit a coach for the team. The athletes have been practicing inside the Indira Gandhi Stadium for months. The participants are understandably disappointed but do not want to speak out against the federation.

Pranati Nayak and Pranati Das (both from Bengal), are part of the Indian team. Dipa Karmakar is also practicing with the team, though she will miss the CWG due to an injury.

Dipa Karmakar’s coach Bisweshwar Nandi was understandably upset and said that he never saw such a situation. While another senior coach Jayprakash Chakraborty said that they have no clue when the federation will announce the name of the coach. 

“I have never seen something like this. It is only possible in this country,” Bisweshwar Nandi was quoted saying by TOI.  

“We have no idea when they will announce the coach’s name,” Jayprakash Chakraborty was quoted saying by TOI. 

Though retired, GS Bawa remains the chief coach for the national camp and is one of the most influential figures in Indian gymnastics. Bawa and Kalpana Debnath were the initial choices for the CWG coach’s position, but the National Olympic Committee rejected that proposal on the basis that neither has pupils participating in the CWG.