Picture Credit: Twitter
In a recent development, Bisheshwar Nandi has been appointed as the coach of the women’s gymnastics team for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022. Nandi had coached Dipa Karmakar to finish in the fourth position in the Rio Olympics 2016. He was a recipient of the Dronacharya award in 2016.
Moreover, Bisheshwar Nandi has been the five times National Champion in gymnastics and has led the Indian team on six occasions. He will replace the controversial Rahul Jaiswal for the show-piece event. Jaiswal was accused by gymnast Aruna Budda Reddy of video graphing her without her consent.
Nandi’s Visa is expected to arrive by Wednesday (27 July) and he will soon join the team.
"I've done my biometrics a day before and am expecting my Visa to arrive by tomorrow. I will join the team by July 29," Nandi told PTI from the national camp in New Delhi.
A change of regular coach just a few days ahead of the tournament might be a setback for the team. However, Nandi is confident in helping the Indian team to do well in the Games. He said, "It would not be an issue as I've known them for many years now.”
"Also, I've my ward Protistha Samanta whom I've trained over the years and she is also quite promising after her World Cup stint in Egypt and Azerbaijan earlier this year,” he added.
In 2018, 7 athletes, including 3 men and 4 women contested in the game of Gymnastics. Among them, Rakesh Patra had qualified for the rings apparatus finals.
Team India’s gymnastic squad:
Men’s: Satyajit Mondal, Yogeshwar Singh, Saif Tamboli
Women’s: Pranati Nayak, Ruthuja Nataraj, Protishtha Samanta, Bavleen Kaur