Excitement is in the air in Agartala as the whole country is eagerly awaiting gymnast Dipa Karmakar’s performance in the Rio Olympics women’s vault final on Sunday evening.
People close to Dipa are holding their breath for the big test, and her family is inundated with phone calls from friends, relatives, well-wishers and mediapersons.
Dipa’s father Dulal Karmakar, a weightlifting coach with the Sports Authority of India (SAI), is hardly tired of speaking on the phone throughout the day. He understands that his daughter has already scripted history by reaching the Olympics final, and can make the occasion bigger if she lands a medal.
“Surely, it is a big occasion for us. We are all excited. There is a bit of anxiety, though, as we get closer to the moment. Will she do well? Can she get a good score? All these questions are making us restless,” Karmakar told The Hindu from Agartala on Saturday.
Praying hard for Dipa’s success, the Karmakar family is awaiting its relatives who will join them from all over Agartala to watch the 23-year-old’s performance live on television. “We have got some relatives in and around Agartala. They are coming tomorrow [Sunday] and we will watch her performance at our home,” said Dulal. “Lots of mediapersons from different parts of the country are calling up, and they will also be here.”
Elsewhere in the city, Dipa’s first coach Soma Nandi is quite confident of seeing her ward achieve glory. “It is a very proud moment for me to see Dipa reach the Olympics final. People who know me are congratulating me and asking how Dipa will perform in the final. She has been doing well and I sincerely hope that she wins a medal,” said Soma, whose husband Bishweswar Nandi now coaches Dipa.
Tripura governor Tathagata Roy has put a ‘good luck’ photograph (of well-known artist Sudarshan Patnaik’s sand sculpture) for Dipa on his twitter handle, while the state’s sports minister Sahid Chowdhury and Tripura Police have wished her the best for the Olympic final.
