<p>Pranati Nayak had long dreamt of an international medal. Ever since she was eight years old, and got hooked to gymnastics - training away from her parents in Midnapore- she wanted to win on the international stage. During the Senior Asian Championships last week, she finally vaulted herself to a bronze medal which has given her the belief and much-needed confidence ahead of World Championships.</p>.<p>Pranati, who had finished fourth in vault in the 2017 Asian Championships, executed two confident landings to score 13.384 on the vault at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.</p>.<p>“It was a very important medal for me. I have played in the finals in the past also but I was either finishing fourth or sixth. During the Commonwealth Games last year, I made mistakes in landing. Ever since I started gymnastics in 2003, it was my dream to win an international medal. When I finished fourth in the Asian Championships it gave me confidence that I can win internationally,” Pranati told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>Before the finals at Mongolia, a chat with her childhood coach Minara Begum and manager Rohit Jaiswal helped. “They constantly told me that I could do it. I worked especially hard on my landings. I did Tsukahara 360 back double twist and front 360 somersault half twist. Both had difficulty levels of 4.8. I executed them with perfection,” said the 24-year-old, who works with the Railways.</p>.<p>“I would like to dedicate my medal to Minara mam and my father. He is a state bus driver, it was tough for him to fund my training, but he supported me in every possible way.”</p>.<p>Pranati was spotted by Minara, former coach at Sports Authority of India, Kolkata, after being recommended by her school coach.</p>.<p>“She would stay at Salt Lake Stadium, but the arrangement became difficult. I requested for her stay at the SAI hostel, and I personally took care of her,” said Minara.</p>.<p>“She was initially very quiet, obviously she missed her family. So I did what all I could do. She showed great resilience as a young gymnast, was always eager to do as told. She would never say no to any task.”</p>.<p>Pranati now dreams to emulate Dipa Karmakar. She wants to qualify for the Olympics. For that World Championships at Stuttgart, Germany from October 4-13, is the only route.</p>.<p>“For that, I focus on all four apparatus and get a score of around 50. I will also try the Tsukahara 540 and Tsukahara 720 during my training for World Championships as it has a higher difficulty score. There are still three months for me to prepare. My focus though will be on the vault,” she said.</p>
<p>Pranati Nayak had long dreamt of an international medal. Ever since she was eight years old, and got hooked to gymnastics - training away from her parents in Midnapore- she wanted to win on the international stage. During the Senior Asian Championships last week, she finally vaulted herself to a bronze medal which has given her the belief and much-needed confidence ahead of World Championships.</p>.<p>Pranati, who had finished fourth in vault in the 2017 Asian Championships, executed two confident landings to score 13.384 on the vault at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.</p>.<p>“It was a very important medal for me. I have played in the finals in the past also but I was either finishing fourth or sixth. During the Commonwealth Games last year, I made mistakes in landing. Ever since I started gymnastics in 2003, it was my dream to win an international medal. When I finished fourth in the Asian Championships it gave me confidence that I can win internationally,” Pranati told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p>Before the finals at Mongolia, a chat with her childhood coach Minara Begum and manager Rohit Jaiswal helped. “They constantly told me that I could do it. I worked especially hard on my landings. I did Tsukahara 360 back double twist and front 360 somersault half twist. Both had difficulty levels of 4.8. I executed them with perfection,” said the 24-year-old, who works with the Railways.</p>.<p>“I would like to dedicate my medal to Minara mam and my father. He is a state bus driver, it was tough for him to fund my training, but he supported me in every possible way.”</p>.<p>Pranati was spotted by Minara, former coach at Sports Authority of India, Kolkata, after being recommended by her school coach.</p>.<p>“She would stay at Salt Lake Stadium, but the arrangement became difficult. I requested for her stay at the SAI hostel, and I personally took care of her,” said Minara.</p>.<p>“She was initially very quiet, obviously she missed her family. So I did what all I could do. She showed great resilience as a young gymnast, was always eager to do as told. She would never say no to any task.”</p>.<p>Pranati now dreams to emulate Dipa Karmakar. She wants to qualify for the Olympics. For that World Championships at Stuttgart, Germany from October 4-13, is the only route.</p>.<p>“For that, I focus on all four apparatus and get a score of around 50. I will also try the Tsukahara 540 and Tsukahara 720 during my training for World Championships as it has a higher difficulty score. There are still three months for me to prepare. My focus though will be on the vault,” she said.</p>