Indian gymnast Aruna Reddy to start 2022 season at Cairo World Cup

2018 World Cup bronze medalist Aruna Reddy is among the six-member national gymnastics squad selected for the FIG Cairo World Cup. The Indian team will leave on Monday for the event scheduled to start on March 13.

Promising female gymnasts Protistha Samanta and Bidisha Gayen will also represent the Indian team in Egypt. The men’s team for Cairo consists of Yogeshwar Singh, Siddharth Verma and Gaurav Kumar.

Sudhir Mittal, secretary general of the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI), believes the event will be a good preparation for the national team ahead of the Commonwealth and Asian Games to be held later this year.

“We are sending gymnasts who gave a good account of themselves in the selection trials," Mittal told Sportskeeda. "We hope they will be able to repeat their performance in Egypt."

The Cairo World Cup will be the first international competition for Indian gymnasts. GFI didn’t field a national team for the 2022 opening two World Cups in Cottbus and Doha. The Cairo World Cup is the third major event of the season, while the fourth World Cup is scheduled to be held from March 31 to April 4 in Baku.

Mittal also revealed that the Indian team will be competing in the Baku World Cup.

“While the women’s team will be the same as the Cairo World Cup, the men’s team for Baku will be different,” he said.

Despite preparations being hit hard due to the pandemic, the national team coaches are hopeful of a good result.

“There was a short camp for the Cairo World Cup," a coach of the national team said. "We hope the gymnasts are able to give their best in Egypt."

Dipa Karmakar's mystery deepens

Dipa Karmakar in action at the Rio Olympics (Image courtesy: Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the mystery of India’s ace gymnast Dipa Karmakar skipping the national camp still remains unresolved as she wasn’t available for her comments on her future plans. Even her coach Bishweshwar Nandi couldn’t be reached for his views. Nandi will accompany the national women’s team for the Cairo World Cup.

“It is certain that Dipa will not represent India at the Baku World Cup as the women’s team has been finalised,” a national level coach, associated with the camps, said.

The Tripura gymnast shot into the limelight at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for her outstanding fourth-place finish at the women’s vault. Her performance in Rio not only enhanced her profile but it brought into sharp focus the Indian gymnastics system.

Post Rio Olympic Games, Dipa performed in patches and subsequently failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

On her comeback, Dipa was a pale shadow of herself. She withdrew from the national selection trials for the 2021 World Gymnastics Championships held in Tokyo.

The 28-year-old was expected to attend the Nationals earlier in February but she skipped.

“She must be training on her own in Agartala to prepare for upcoming major internaitonal events,” was all Mittal said.