Dipa Karmakar to miss national camp for Asian C’ship

The gymnast, recuperating from a knee injury, is likely to be fit in time to participate in the trials for the Asian Championship and World Championship.

Dipa Karmakar aggravated her knee injury during the vault final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in March, 2019.

Dipa Karmakar, the Indian gymnast, is likely to participate in the selection trials for the Asian Championship and World Championship, but will not be a part of the national camp.

The trials for the selection of gymnasts for the national coaching camp are scheduled to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here on April 12 and April 13, 2019.

Dipa had aggravated her knee injury during the vault final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan in March, 2019, and was forced to withdraw from the World Cup in Doha. She is currently undergoing rehabilitation in Agartala.

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“Dipa will not be able to participate in this trial but she will participate in the open trials to make it to the team which will participate at Asian and World Championship. We are confident she will be fit by then to take part in the trials,” Bishweshwar Nandi, her coach, told PTI .

The Asian Championship is scheduled to be held in Mongolia from June 13 to June 16, 2019, and the World Championship will be held from October 4 to October 13, 2019.

“A group of gymnasts, both junior and seniors, will be selected. [They] will be attending the camp in the next three days after trials. It is compulsory for top players but Dipa will skip these trials due to her injury. I hope the rest of the top players participate. We will be conducting trials a month ahead of the Asian and World Championship for a fair selection of the team for these important events,” Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) vice-president Riyaz Bhati said.

‘Most eagerly awaited event’

The GFI will also conduct the Senior and Junior National Championship in Artistic Gymnastics at Balewadi, Pune, from May 3 to May 5, 2019.

“This is the most eagerly awaited event for the gymnasts. The GFI will form a ranking list of gymnasts from the performance at these National Championship which will be used for selection for upcoming International Competitions,” Riyaz said.

“To provide an opportunity to everyone, participation at this National is open to everyone for the purpose of International selection. We expect all the best players to participate in the Nationals and it promises to be a mega event,” he added.