Dedicated coach and SAI facilities make Bengal’s Protistha a star in Gymnastics

Even as Maharashtra dominated the Gymnastics arena, Protistha Samanta, who won a gold medal on the first day of the under – 17 Gymnastics, was bursting with confidence at the Khelo India Youth Games on Thursday. As the host state and Uttar Pradesh took medal after medal, Protistha put a halt to that with a stunning performance as she won three back-to-back gold medals in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics. That took her tally to four gold medals.

She bagged the first spot in Table Vault (12.875), Beam (11.40) and Floor (11.45) events. She was fiercely challenged by Priyanka Dasgupta from Tripura who came close and bagged the second positions in the same three events.

This 15-year-old Protistha started her training at a very young age of three. On an average, she trains for 6-7 hours every single day. She is currently under the guidance of Joy Prakash Chakraborty. Her training sessions are conducted every morning and evening at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Gymnastics Arena, Salt Lake Stadium.

“The facilities are really good at SAI. But my coach is my strength. My entire training schedule is very well managed which helps a lot during big tournaments like this,” says Protistha.

Currently a student at Sibpur Hindu Girls High School, she is going to appear for her boards this year. She adds, “My training is still on but not that intensely since I am about to take my 10th standard board exams. But I am glad I could still manage to win four gold medals and I am really happy about it.”

Protistha credits her success to her family, teammates and trainers. She says, “Everyone has been so supportive during the entire event. They are a big part of my success story. And I am glad I could make Bengal proud.”

As she cheers for seniors from her team, she signs off by expressing her future aspiration to compete in international events and make India proud.