Pranati Nayak Gears Up for Asian Games with Renewed Confidence

Pranati Nayak's Journey to the Asian Games

Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak is set to participate in her fourth Asian Games, bringing with her a sense of renewed confidence following a successful season. She has been training diligently at the Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High Performance Centre (GHPC) in Bhubaneswar, focusing on improving her execution and landing techniques in preparation for the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Games 2026. As the sole gymnast representing India this year, Pranati will compete in the women's vault and is scheduled to depart for Japan on Wednesday night.

Expressing her excitement, Pranati stated, "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." The 31-year-old athlete recently secured a silver medal in the women's vault at the FIG World Challenge Cup 2026 held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, marking her first medal of the year and providing a significant boost ahead of the continental event.

Intensive Training and Support

Pranati emphasized that her training at the Bhubaneswar centre has been concentrated on refining the finer details 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 explained. She credited AM/NS India and Odisha Sports for their substantial support, which has been crucial in helping her maintain her performance levels.

"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 added.

Coach's Insights on Strategy and Competition

Ashok Kumar Mishra, Pranati's personal coach and chief coach at the Odisha AM/NS India GHPC, shared that her preparations have been promising, although he acknowledged the stiff competition from other Asian countries. "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 noted.

"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 the Vault Event

Mishra confirmed that Pranati will exclusively compete in the vault event in Japan, having opted out of 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 explained.

Pranati's Aspirations and Background

Having finished eighth in the women's vault final at the previous Hangzhou Asian Games, Pranati is determined to improve her performance and secure her first medal at this continental event. She acknowledged the responsibility of being India's only gymnast in the contingent but emphasized her focus 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 stated.

Pranati began her gymnastics journey in 2002 in her village in West Bengal and later moved to the Sports Authority of India centre in Kolkata in 2003. After two decades of competing internationally, she relocated to Bhubaneswar in 2023, a change she believes has revitalized her career. "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 recounted.

Looking Forward to the Competition

Mishra highlighted the importance of the infrastructure and support available at the Bhubaneswar centre for 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 remarked.

Pranati's gymnastics competition at the Asian Games is set to commence on September 22, with Mishra expressing hope that she can first secure a place in the finals before aiming 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 concluded.

Pranati, who previously won bronze in the vault at the 2019 Asian Championships and represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, is eager to convert her recent form and preparation into a stellar 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.