After missing the Gymnastics National Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar earlier this month due to injury, Pranathy Naik made a strong comeback to win silver in the vault event at the FIG World Challenge Cup 2026 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Saturday.Pranthi, who trains at the Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High Performance Center in Bhubaneswar, secured a place on the podium in the vault final with a score of 13.025.Her first vault was a Chusovitina (4.40), which earned her 12,950 points, while her second was a Tsukahara (4.40) for which she was awarded 12,700 points. He also received a bonus of 0.20, bringing his total to 13.025.Reflecting on his success, he said in a social media post, “The past two months have not been easy. There were moments of doubt, failure and hard days, but despite it all, I never stopped believing. Standing on the podium with this medal is proof that patience, perseverance and faith always pay off.As for the other medal winners, Vietnam’s Thi Quynh Nhu Nguyen won the gold medal while Uzbekistan’s Shakina Bono Yusufova bagged the bronze medal.Expressing her happiness, chief coach Ashok Mishra said in a statement, “Paranti has once again demonstrated her talent and determination at the international level. This silver medal is a proud moment for Indian gymnastics and everyone working for the development of the sport in Odisha. We are sure she will continue to achieve greater heights in the future.”It was Pranati’s first international event since the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta, where she injured herself after falling during the vault qualification. She eventually exited without attempting her second vault and finished unranked.Putting her injury behind her, she had a strong performance last season, finishing on the podium at the FIG World Cup in Antalya, Turkey and the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships. Her focus will now be on qualifying for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, though it remains to be seen whether she will make it.
