World Challenge Cup Series Gymnastics | Ashish Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Patra, and Shraddha Talekar to represent India

The bronze medallist from the 2010 Asian Games Ashish Kumar will lead the challenge for the Indians in the upcoming tournament as he will participate in the floor, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars events in Osijek, Croatia. On the other hand, Shraddha Talekar is going to make her debut in an international event this time. Talekar will take part in three events in the tournament uneven bars, beam and floor.

Rakesh Patra, who has also been in national reckoning and had represented India before, will participate in rings, parallel bars and horizontal bars categories. Indian coaches Ashwini Samantaray, Manoj Rana and Pravin Dhage will also be a part of the contingent and accompany the gymnasts during the World Challenge Cup Series.

As the trials were limited to just to eight to 10 gymnasts, who were selected in the National Coaching Camp during the April trials conducted by SAI, star Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar missed out from getting selected for the event. Earlier, the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) had also written a letter to the SAI regarding the eligibility criteria for the players.

More than 100 gymnasts from 30 countries are a part of the World Challenge Cup which will be held from May 23 in Croatia.