"I need to do a difficult vault for the Asian Games" - Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak opens up on her plans for the mega event [Exclusive]
Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak will take the field on Monday (September 25) in the ongoing edition of the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou. She will be in action from 7:30 a.m. IST onward.
Pranati is the only Indian who'll be representing India in gymnastics at the Asian Games 2023. All eyes will be on the 28-year-old player to bring home a medal for India.
Sportskeeda caught up with Pranati Nayak ahead of her match at the Asian Games 2023.
Among a variety of topics, she spoke about her training and confidence ahead of the Asian Games. Pranati also spoke about her bronze medal at the World Cup and the support she has received from the Odisha government.
Pranati Nayak recently competed in the Gymnastics World Cup, which took place in Hungary. She returned home with a bronze medal and will look forward to putting on a show in Hangzhou as well.
When asked about her training for the Asian Games 2023, she said:
"I was training continuously before the World Cup. After that, there was a week's break as I played only Vault in Hungary."
She also confirmed that she is high on confidence after winning a bronze medal at the World Cup. This confidence will help her perform better at the Asian Games 2023.
Speaking about the same, she said:
"This competition was very important for me because performing just before the Asian Games will surely help me get the confidence."
Pranati also spoke about the Vault she performed at the World Cup to win the bronze medal.
She added:
"The vault I did at the World Cup isn't enough for the Asian Games. I need to do a difficult vault for the Asian Games and I am preparing for the same."
The Odisha government has played a key role in helping Pranati Nayak represent India on the big stage and also win medals for the country.
The 28-year-old gymnast was all praise for the Odisha government and the facilities they have been providing her to improve and get better at her game.
She continued:
"For the last 6 months, I have been training at the High-Performance Center in Odisha. I am getting a lot of support over here, including the best training, equipment, physiotherapy, diet, and nutrition."
Pranati Nayak also confirmed that she is looking forward to getting better at Vault. She represented India during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Sharing her joy of representing the nation, she said:
"It's a very big achievement to represent the country. This is very important for me. In the future as well, I'll look forward to playing for my country and winning as many medals as well and take gymnastics ahead."
The 28-year-old player also represented India during the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She missed out on winning a medal for the country in the Vault event. Pranati opened up about the mistake she made that cost her a medal at the CWG 2022.
She cleared the difficult vault and landed safely, which earned her plenty of points. However, a small mistake in the second vault saw her fall out of medal contention.
She further said:
"In the easy vault, my knee got touched and due to that I lost the medal."
Pranati Nayak seemed upset as a small error cost her a medal. She was close to winning a medal for India but couldn't get there. Pranati is looking forward to learning from her mistakes and rectifying them.
She added by saying:
"I'll try to make sure that I don't repeat the same mistake in the Asian Games."
Pranati Nayak on Dipa Karmakar not taking part in the Asian Games 2023
When asked about Dipa Karmakar's exclusion from the Asian Games 2023 squad, Pranati said:
"It doesn't look good! I wanted to see a minimum of three men and as many women participate in the Asian Games. Now, I'm going there alone so there is pressure on me. It doesn't look good that despite having good players in the country they are not going for the Asian Games."