Dipa hits high-five in gymnastics

Dipa Karmakar minted her fifth gold medal of the 35th National Games as the gymnastics competitions concluded at the Jimmy George Indoor Stadium on Friday.

Dipa, who had also won five gold medals in the previous edition in Ranchi, triumphed in floor exercises and balance beam on the day to be the star of the show. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in vault had earlier won the individual all around title, uneven bar and vault gold medals.

Representing Tripura, the 21-year-old Dipa was the dominant force in both her events, topping with a score of 13.00 in floor exercises and 13.333 in vault. Mandira Chowdhury of Bengal was the silver winner on the beam, followed by Vandita Raval of Maharashtra. In the floor exercises, Aruna Reddy of Andhra Pradesh claimed the silver ahead of Pranti Nayak of Madhya Pradesh.

“I had prepared well for this event and was sure of winning five gold medals here,” said Dipa, adding that she was preparing hard with the aim of doing well in the World Championships later this year.

A surprise unfolded on the men’s floor exercise, where Chandan Pathak of Services won the gold ahead of 2010 Commonwealth Games medallist Uttar Pradesh’s Ashish Kumar, who lamented the absence of a coach to help him out in his quest for more laurels.