Asian Games: Injured Dipa Karmakar pulls out of team finals
Star Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar today pulled out of the artistic team finals of the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia due to a knee injury. "There was a risk of a dangerous injury, so she couldn't be her best. We'll give her rest from the team event but she'll definitely do well in (balancing) beam finals," Dipa's coach, Bisweswar Nandi, said. Here's more.
Dipa failed to qualify her vault event
Dipa, who attained global fame attempting the death-defying "Produnova" vault at a stage no less than Olympics for a fourth-place finish in 2016, could not even qualify for her vault event in Asian Games.
Dipa had felt a 'jerk' in her knee during practice
Explaining how the injury flared up, Nandi said, "On Monday she started feeling a jerk in her knee while landing during the 'podium practice'. The surface here is hard and the one in Delhi was soft (foam) which would absorb the jerk." "We consulted the IOA doctor here and he advised that she should not push, otherwise it will aggravate," the coach added.
Dipa says she'll make it up in balancing finals
Asked if competing in beam finals will affect the knee adversely, Nandi said, "No, the landing is not hard on balancing beam." A sobbing Dipa said she will strive to make up for the lost opportunity in the balancing beam finals. "I felt jerk during podium training. I could not do my best. I had trained hard for this," Dipa said.
Deepa is deeply upset about her injury
Nandi said Dipa was inconsolable. "She said 'Vault is my identity, what will people say?' I told her that it was not her fault but she was very upset. She didn't have dinner last night and now she is refusing to breakfast too," he said.
Dipa had previously gone through another knee injury
After the high of Rio, Dipa remained out of action due to a knee injury and had made a comeback recently at World Challenge Cup in Mersin Turkey, where she won a gold in the vault. It was her first event after undergoing an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery in Mumbai last year in July. She was forced to skip the Commonwealth Games too.
Nandi confident Dipa will make a comeback soon
Dipa can still take solace from the fact that she is the first Indian gymnast to qualify for beam finals at the Asian Games. Nandi said Dipa will consult Dr. Anand Joshi, who conducted her ACL surgery, after returning to India but he is confident that Dipa will make a comeback soon. "It's a jerk and a two-week rest would be enough," Nandi said.
