Pranati Nayak confident for Asian Games after World Cup silver

Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak, the country's sole representative at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026, is confident after a strong season. She aims for a maiden medal, focusing on vault execution after winning a silver at the FIG World Challenge Cup.

Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak is heading into her fourth Asian Games with renewed confidence after a strong season and focused preparations at the Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High Performance Centre (GHPC) in Bhubaneswar, where she has been working extensively on execution and landing ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Games 2026. The Tokyo Olympian, who will be the only Indian gymnast in the country's Asian Games contingent this year, is set to compete in the women's vault and will leave for Japan on Wednesday night.“I'm really excited to be going to the Asian Games to represent India, and I'm super excited. I'm completely focused on my performance,” Pranati told ANI ahead of her departure. The 31-year-old gymnast heads to Aichi-Nagoya after winning silver in the women's vault at the FIG World Challenge Cup 2026 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The medal was her first of the year and provided an important boost ahead of the continental showpiece.“It was really great. That was my first medal of the year, and my first silver medal, so it really motivated me that if I can win a medal here, I can do even better in the future,” she said.

Focused Preparations and Support

Pranati said her preparations at the Bhubaneswar centre have been focused on improving the finer aspects of her vault, particularly execution and landing. “The preparation has been really good. This time, we are focusing more on execution and landing, so we are paying a lot more attention to those areas,” she said.The gymnast credited AM/NS India and Odisha Sports for providing the support and facilities that have helped her maintain her form. “AM/NS India and Odisha Sports have supported me a lot. They played a huge role in helping me keep up my performance. The facilities, equipment, food, and everything else over there are really good, which is why I'm able to maintain my form,” she said.

Coach's Perspective on Strategy and Competition

Pranati's personal coach and Odisha AM/NS India GHPC chief coach Ashok Kumar Mishra said the gymnast's preparations have been encouraging, while acknowledging the challenge posed by the strong Asian field. “The preparation was actually pretty good because she started this season really well. She won silver in Tashkent, so we were expecting her to do well at the Commonwealth Games too. But due to a slight running mistake at the Commonwealth Games, she couldn't make it to the finals. She missed out by a very narrow margin,” Mishra told ANI.“Right now, the preparation is good, but the competition in Asia is really tough because China, Japan, and Korea are all strong competitors. Still, our preparation for the vaulting is good too. Our goal is to make it to the finals, and after that, we'll go all out,” he added.

Focus on Vault Event

Mishra also confirmed that Pranati will compete only in the vault event in Japan, having moved away from the all-around competition. “Pranati will only participate in vaulting. She'll only do vault because she hasn't done the all-around event in a long time. Actually, she's been an all-around champion quite a few times in India, and she's done the all-around in international competitions too. But considering her age, I've decided she'll just do vaulting so she can keep winning medals,” he said.

Pranati's Journey and Renewed Impetus

Pranati, who finished eighth in the women's vault final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, will be looking to improve on that performance and earn her maiden medal at the continental event. She said the responsibility of being India's only gymnast in the contingent was something she was aware of, but wanted to keep her attention on her own performance.“Yeah, there's definitely responsibility, but keeping all this in mind, I'll just focus on my performance and try to do my best,” she said.Pranati began her gymnastics journey in 2002 in her village in West Bengal before moving to the Sports Authority of India centre in Kolkata in 2003. She spent two decades competing at the international level before moving to Bhubaneswar in 2023, a change she credits with giving her career fresh impetus.“I started doing gymnastics in my village back in 2002, and I didn't even know it was gymnastics at that time. Then I moved to Calcutta SAI in 2003. And from 2003 to 2023, I competed at the international level in everything I did while I was with SAI. And finally, I moved to Bhubaneswar in 2023,” she said.She also singled out Mishra as the guiding force behind her career. “My coach is Ashok Mishra sir, and I've been able to get this far today thanks to his support. Everyone thought my career was probably over, but I started fresh when I moved to Bhubaneswar in 2023. Since then, I've felt like I can do something really good in gymnastics again in a whole new way,” Pranati said.

Looking Ahead to the Competition

Mishra said the infrastructure and support available at the Bhubaneswar centre have played an important role in the development of gymnasts. “The gymnastics development that's happened in Odisha right now is only because of AM/NS India and the Government of Odisha. The Government of Odisha has provided all the infrastructure, which is world-class, and AM/NS is spending a lot on the development of gymnastics,” he said.Pranati's gymnastics competition at the Asian Games is scheduled to begin on September 22, with Mishra hoping she can first secure a place in the final before pushing for a medal. “Our competition starts on the 22nd. Gymnastics competition is from the 21st to the 25th, but Pranati's first competition is on the 22nd. And we're hoping we'll get a medal this time. We're hopeful, but hopefully she gets to the finals first. After that, we'll see what level the kids competing are at and figure out if she'll win a medal or not. Our prep is solid, so hopefully Pranati can adjust to the equipment and the environment over there,” he said.Pranati, who won bronze in the vault at the 2019 Asian Championships and represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, is now hoping to translate her recent form and preparation into a strong performance in Aichi-Nagoya. “I'll try to give it my best, and I hope the other [Indian] competitors have also prepared really hard, so hoping for the best,” she concluded.(ANI)(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)