India’s premier gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, on return from a long-term injury clinched the gold medal in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey.
The 24-year-old, who returned after a two-year injury lay-off scored 14.150 to win her maidan gold in the competition.
Dipa, who had finished fourth in the vault event in Rio Olympics, scored 5.400 in her first attempt. She also collected 8.700 in execution, to take her score to a total of 14.100.
With her scores low after the first attempt, Dipa had pushed hard in her second jump and scored 14.200 (5.600+8.600), giving her a total average of 14.150, which was sufficeint for the yellow medal.
Rifda Irfanaluthfi of Indonesia won the silver-medal with 13.400 points, while local gymnast Goksu Uctas Sanli settled for the bronze with a score of 13.200.
Dipa also qualified in balance beam finals after coming third in the qualification with a score of 11.850.
She had suffered an Anetrior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury after the Rio Olympics and had undergone a surgery. Although she was confident of making a comeback at the Commonwealth Games, her rehabilitation took longer than expected and as a result she missed the CWG at Gold Coast.
Meanwhile, Rakesh Patra missed out on a medal in men’s rungs event finals finishing fourth with a score of 13.650. Ibrahim Colak of the host nation won the gold with a total score of 15.100 while Romanian Andrei Vasile (14.600) and Dutchman Yuri van Gelder (14.300) took the silver and bronze medals respectively.
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