Tokyo Games postponement rekindles Dipa Karmakar's Olympics hopes

New Delhi: The postponement of Tokyo Olympics has come as a ray of hope for injury-ravaged Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who is preparing for another shot at qualification after a niggling knee problem hampered her earlier bid to make the cut.

Karmakar, who finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has been struggling with injuries ever since she underwent a surgery to treat an Anterior Cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in 2017. ACL is a key ligament that stabilises the knee joints.

Her comeback in 2018 was short-lived as the knee troubled her again at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku last year. She was forced to withdraw from the Doha World Cup as well and failed to recover in time for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in October, 2019.

"There were eight World cups but now there are only two left, which were supposed to happen in March but got postponed to June due to coronavirus outbreak," Karmakar told PTI in an interview.

"Given the situation they perhaps will happen next year. So it gives me more time to recover and prepare for the two events," she added.

Karmakar hoped the extra time due to postponement will come in handy for her to get back to form.

Karmakar's long-time coach Bishweshwar Nandi said Dipa is fit. "She has completely recovered from the injury but in gymnastics, you have to slowly start the process of training and Dipa had started her basic practice late last month," the Dronacharya awardee said.

"She will be back to her best in 3-4 months and since there are still two events left, we can take another shot at the Olympics. See, in gymnastics, injuries happen a lot but I'm hopeful that she will take it as a challenge.

"She will need two silver or one gold and a silver in the two tournaments. We will not leave any stone unturned and I hope she will be able to perform."