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When the whole world stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pranati Nayak didn’t. From makeshift training props to online classes, the latest Indian gymnastics sensation from West Bengal did everything in her Medinipur home to keep herself in shape.
As fate would have it, the Asian Championships - a Tokyo Olympics qualification event in China this month - was cancelled. But little did Pranati Nayak know that luck was on her side, as it was announced that the 26-year-old would be representing India in artistic gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics, based on the continental quota.
A passionate dancer, Pranati Nayak is only behind Sri Lanka’s Elpitiya Badalge Dona Milka Geh as the second reserve for the Asian quota to make the Tokyo Olympics cut. However, official confirmation from the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) is yet to come.
“As a coach, it’s a great feeling. Although the official confirmation is yet to come, we have targeted the Tokyo Olympics and are preparing for that,” Pranati Nayak’s coach Lakhan Manohar Sharma told Sportskeeda. Sharma, who is a SAI coach, has been training with her for the last two years.
Pranati Nayak took up gymnastics as a seven-year-old
Fearless from childhood, Pranati Nayak’s tryst with gymnastics started when she was six or seven years old in her hometown of Medinipur, and began to take the sport seriously once she came under the tutelage of former SAI coach Minara Begum at the age of eight.
Since then, Pranati Nayak has been shaping up under Begum’s guidance, until two years ago, when the latter retired.
Her first major achievement came in Ulaanbaatar in 2019, when she claimed bronze at the Asian Artistic Gymnastic Championships behind China's Yu Linmin (gold) and Japan's Akaya Sakaguchi (silver).
Pumped with a bronze medal, Pranati Nayak had hoped to make the Tokyo Olympics cut with a good showing at the World Championships in Stuttgart the same year, but fell short by a narrow margin. She scored 14.200 in vault, 11.133 in floor exercise, 10.566 in bar and 9.933 in beam, totalling 45.832.
“It was my hard work which has reaped rewards for me. At the World Championships, I worked really hard but still fell two points short of 48 points. I made a beam fault and lost crucial points. Otherwise I would have gotten the required 48-point mark and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics,” Pranati Nayak told this website.
Pranati Nayak now wants to now focus on the job at hand and do well in Tokyo. She kept herself busy during the lockdown, trained at several small clubs and also got SAI Kolkata to open up their facility after obtaining special permission to train there for the big-ticket event.
“On the fitness aspect, I am on top of it, and besides I have been keeping myself in rhythm. So I am hoping that everything will be in place till the Tokyo Olympics. It would have been better had the Asian Championship taken place,” she said.
Pranati Nayak to compete at Tokyo Olympics next
With less than 80 days remaining before the quadrennial event, Lakhan Manohar Sharma is confident that Pranati Nayak won’t disappoint in Tokyo. Also, considering the current COVID situation where several states have to impose a lockdown to curb the spread of deadly virus, Nayak's next event will be her Olympic foray itself.
“Everybody knows the current situation of India. In this situation, it is for sure that she won’t be participating in any events and would be flying directly for Tokyo Olympics,” explained the SAI coach. “She is currently in a bio-bubble at SAI Kolkata and her training has already started.”
Like Dipa Karmakar, whose Produnova vault became the talk of the town, Pranati Nayak hasn’t thought about any particular vaults yet. Sharma, however, is upbeat about her chances at the "Vaulting Table" discipline, and eyes final qualification as the first priority.
“Pranati’s strong point is the 'Vaulting Table' and we are focusing on that. She has the chance to make it to the final in the event and also bring a medal,” he explained. “The way we are training now, we are focusing on one event, which is the 'Vaulting Table'."
“The event is our bulls eye because Pranati clinched Asian Championship bronze in the same event. If everything goes according to plan, we are confident that Pranati will make it to the final. So our first target is to get into the Olympic final. Once we have qualified, then there is some other strategy for the final,” Lakhan Manohar added.
Currently, Pranati Nayak is training twice a day. She starts by 6.30 AM for an hour-and-a-half session, before getting back to it in the evening for a couple more hours. The timings could vary depending on her workload as the competition draws closer.
Pranati Nayak to have Japanese food once in a week
There have been reports previously of Indians struggling with food habits in countries like Japan and China. Pranati Nayak doesn’t want to take any risk in that regard and she will be given a Japanese-styled meal once a week so that she faces no trouble in Tokyo.
“SAI is helping us in all aspects. We have a SAI physio, masseur, nutritionist and chef helping us. On the diet part, the nutritionist and chef are also looking at what type of foods Pranati would get in Tokyo,” Lakhan Manohar explained.
“It has been seen earlier that Indians face problems in countries like Japan and China where the food habits are totally different from others. We have decided to give her Japanese style food once a week so that she doesn’t face any problems there in July-August,” concluded Lakhan Manoharhin.
Karmakar missed out on an Olympic medal by a whisker in Rio 2016, but all hopes will be on Pranati Nayak this time in Tokyo. Whether she brings back a medal is a distant thought; her main target will be to stand tall among the greats of the world and continue the legacy of her idol Dipa didi.
