Injury shocker for gymnast Dipa Karmakar ahead of Commonwealth Games

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar had finished fourth in the '16 Rio Games

India's top gymnast Dipa Karmakar has been forced out of the upcoming Commonwealth Games owing to the career-threatening knee injury she picked up last year, her coach Bisweshwar Nandi said yesterday.

"She is not yet ready for a tournament like the Commonwealth Games. So, the target is to make her fully ready for the Asian Games (August 18-September 2)," Nandi said. Karmakar, the first Indian female to compete in the Olympics where she finished a historic fourth in the women's vault at the 2016 Rio Games, opted out of the CWG trials taking place at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here.

The Gold Coast Games take place from April 4-15. "She is fit but needs more time to be competition-ready. I would not call it a setback and she has taken it very sportingly," added the coach. Dipa, 24, had undergone an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery in April last year and is continuing to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation process. She has, however, started training, according to Nandi.

The nature of the injury, which she picked up during a training camp, has not allowed her to compete since the Rio Olympics. She had scripted history at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal in gymnastics in the mega-event. Karmakar had also secured a bronze in the 2015 Asian Championships.

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