Nearly a decade after Dipa Karmakar’s historic vault in Rio, Indian gymnastics continues to oscillate between isolated moments of brilliance and long stretches of stagnation.
The year 2025, in particular, revealed a sport caught in between capable of world-class results on a single apparatus, yet struggling to build the all-round technical base required to compete at the highest level. What emerged was a dual narrative: individual excellence amid systemic fragility, and the widening gap between India’s limited strengths and the continent’s evolving standards.
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The defining highlight of India’s international campaign once again came from Pranati Nayak, whose vaulting prowess remains the program’s only reliable global asset. Her bronze at the Antalya World Cup and another bronze at the Asian Championships reaffirmed her long-standing consistency on the vault an event where India’s specialization strategy continues to pay dividends. These medals also marked her third consecutive major podium on the apparatus, placing her firmly among Asia’s best.
Yet the deeper concern followed her everywhere: persistent chronic injuries across her elbows and ankles, intensified by the high-risk vaults she relies on for competitive scores.
Beyond Nayak, results were scarce. At the Baku World Cup, Protistha Samanta’s 5th place in the women’s vault final and Harikrishnan Jayan Sandhya’s 7th-place finish in the men’s horizontal bar were encouraging signs. For a program historically reliant on one athlete, having three finalists across two meets reflected modest but meaningful progress in apparatus-specific depth. Yet India skipped World Cups in Cottbus, Osijek, and Doha lost opportunities for exposure, rankings, and experience. Participation came only in Baku and Antalya, sharply limiting competitive development.
National Games: Domestic Promise, Low Competitive Base
The National Games 2025 offered a look at India’s domestic depth and exposed how far the national program remains from meeting world standards.
In women’s artistic gymnastics, Pranati Nayak, Pranati Das, and Nishka Agarwal led the all-around standings. The biggest surprise came in the vault final, where Nishka defeated Pranati, a rare upset in Nayak’s strongest discipline. West Bengal dominated the team event, showcasing strong regional development.
However, domestic scores told a troubling story. On events like Balance Beam and Uneven Bars, winning scores barely crossed 11 points critically low for national champions and far below the 13+ benchmarks needed even for Asian-level contention. India continues to excel only on the vault, while the artistic events lag behind in difficulty and execution by several full points.
In the men’s field, Tapan Mohanty and Yogeshwar Singh produced the highest all-around totals, with Services securing the team title. Yet the top domestic scores still fell short of the 14–15 range required in Asia, highlighting the low technical ceiling of India’s men’s program.
Asian Circuit: A Harsh Reality Check
The Asian Championships in Jecheon were another reminder of the continental gulf India must bridge.
Women Vault Shines, Everything Else Falters
Nayak’s bronze was expected; more encouraging was Protistha Samanta finishing 4th in the vault final. But India’s scores on Bars and Beam painted a bleak picture. Performances in the 7–10 point range exposed fundamental technical issues insufficient difficulty, instability in connections, and wide execution deficits. India finished 10th in the team standings, far behind Japan, China, and South Korea.
Men Outside the Top Bracket
The senior men failed to register a single top-15 finish across individual events. Their all-around scores over 11 points behind Japan’s Oka Shinnosuke confirmed a persistent routine composition deficit. Even in events like vault, where India historically performs better, difficulty levels remained well below continental finalists.
World Championships: A Costly Setback
The World Championships in Jakarta delivered the most painful blow. Attempting a high-difficulty Tsukahara 720, Pranati Nayak sprained her ankle mid-qualification, ending India’s best medal shot. For an athlete already battling chronic pain, the incident highlighted India’s urgent need for better sports science, injury prevention, and load management systems.
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On the men’s side, results were in line with recent trends: participation without progression. Indian athletes placed well outside the qualification thresholds for finals across every event.
Looking ahead to the 2026 Asian Games, India must confront its structural weaknesses head-on. Encouragingly, government support has increased: the ₹1 crore TAGG funding allocation for elite preparation signals recognition of gymnastics’ potential. A 30-day training camp in France and increased World Cup exposure are intended to raise India’s technical baseline and difficulty levels.
But progress will not come unless India addresses three fundamental gaps:
Sports Science & Injury Management: An integrated, full-time medical and recovery setup is essential to protect high-value athletes like Nayak.
Technical Difficulty (D-Score) Upgrades: India must aggressively invest in foreign coaching, particularly for women’s Bars and Beam and men’s Rings and Pommel Horse.
Expanding the Talent Pipeline: Emerging names like Nishka Agarwal, Pranati Das, Protistha Samanta, Harikrishnan Jayan Sandhya, and junior athletes must transition into regular international roles.
Indian gymnastics in 2025 was a study in contrasts: world-class potential in one apparatus, and systemic frailty across the rest. With sustained funding, better injury management, and more international exposure, the sport can build on its isolated highs.
But without urgent structural reform, India risks repeating the same cycle relying on one athlete, one event, and one moment, while the world moves ahead.
