Protistha Samanta’s CWG final journey: 4:30 am alarms, rain and a mother’s grit
From running through Kolkata's monsoons to reaching a Commonwealth Games final, Protistha Samanta's journey is one of family sacrifice, discipline and resilience.
Protistha Samanta’s mother, Shubhada, recalls the number of Kolkata monsoons both of them would literally run the two whole stops from Chingrighata to Salt Lake. Getting stuck in potholed vehicular traffic was no excuse for the strict coach Jayprakash Chakraborty, who passed away in 2024.
“If practice was at 9 a.m, even reaching the SAI centre at 9.01 a.m invited a scolding from the coach. So both of us would leave the rickshaw if we thought we were getting late, and start running,” Shubhada recalled.
All those long days that started at 4 a.m and ended at 10.30 p.m, including overseeing Protistha’s homework sitting under a tree between two training sessions, yielded results. At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Howrah resident and Dipa Karmakar understudy for five years recorded two vaults of 12.950 (Difficulty score: 4.4, Execution – 8.550) and 12.700 (Difficulty score – 4.000, Execution – 8.700), plus a 0.2 bonus mark, to average 13.025, which put her 7th in the Apparatus finals for Vault. Protistha also recorded strong routines on the floor exercise and beam and is third reserve for All Around Finals.
According to recent Code of Points, in women’s elite gymnastics, a female gymnast can earn a specific 0.20 point bonus on vault by performing two separate vaults that feature saltos in different directions (one forward and one backward) during the second flight phase, provided both are landed without a fall.
Father Suman Samanta recalled his daughter being fascinated by a gymnastics club in the neighbourhood, run by a coaching couple. “Protistha thought it was ‘dhamaal-type’ activity so she insisted on joining. I am in private service, and we are middle-class. But I never could play football or cricket because we came from poverty. So when she said ‘sports’, we didn’t think twice. But it’s fully credit to her mother – she is the engine to Protistha’s gymnastics,” he said.
At Glasgow, the 22-year-old joined two other teammates on the Tsukahara full layout, a solid execution of takeoff and turns for 12.950, which could’ve been higher if not for a slight step back. On the second vault, a handspring front pike half, she was mighty powerful and scored 12.700.
It was in pursuit of that strength in her routines that Protistha had moved for five and a half years to Agartala, training under BS Nandy, an understudy to Dipa. “She was super talented. She’s always had good speed, strength, stamina, and flexibility for that pike front somersault,” Nandy said. “She picked things early, and didn’t need too many repetitions to get it right. In a few practices, she would get really good. But the biggest difference from many other gymnasts was her strong mind. Unbreakable,” he recalled.
Medals at state and four at Khelo India followed, as she completed her graduation and took a job with Railways, returning to Kolkata. “Sir daantega” (Sir will scold), used to be the buzzword in her early years, around which the Samanta family planned their wake-up alarms for 4.30 am. “Even for 6 a.m practice, the day would begin at 4.30 for Shubhada and Protistha. Rains, traffic jams, packing school bag, cooking – we had to keep all that in mind, because studies and graduation were important. They would sit under a tree and do homework when there were two trainings,” Suman recalls.
Shubhada was a homemaker and devoted to Protistha’s dream. “I didn’t understand gymnastics. But I understood her dream and stubbornness. Even as a kid, she would enter the house with a cartwheel and spin and twist and tumble around the house. The discipline came from training,” she said.
The other hobby was music, which developed her sense of rhythm. It showed on her floor exercise lines too. Though Eshitaa Rawale’s Kuchipudi-inspired choreography from Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a hit with the commentators, Protistha riffing off the Dance of Envy, weaving in Shiamak Davar’s hook steps from Dil Toh Pagal Hai and combining it with serious acrobatics, gained praise. The front layout full was seamless, and she stuck a good double tuck landing with a tiny hop for 10.750. Her front layout also salvaged an otherwise wobbly balance beam routine.
In vault qualification, World Championships medallist Lia Monica Fontaine topped with 13.750, which is 0.725 more than the Indian’s 7th place start. Protistha will need to nail the landing, cut out deductions, maybe add half a twist to go from 360 to 540 and raise difficulty, to get into medal contention. Pranati Nayak is third reserve, finishing on 12.575.
For the Kolkata Samata family, it’s yet another monsoon, this time watching their daughter on TV. “I have never stopped Protistha from doing difficult vaults because she is good at this, and sensible,” mother Shubhada assures. Even she learnt a spot of leaps and weaves, running past jammed traffic with her daughter. “It’s her interest. How can anyone stop her?” she asks.
Protistha Samanta’s mother, Shubhada, recalls the number of Kolkata monsoons both of them would literally run the two whole stops from Chingrighata to Salt Lake. Getting stuck in potholed vehicular traffic was no excuse for the strict coach Jayprakash Chakraborty, who passed away in 2024.
“If practice was at 9 a.m, even reaching the SAI centre at 9.01 a.m invited a scolding from the coach. So both of us would leave the rickshaw if we thought we were getting late, and start running,” Shubhada recalled.
All those long days that started at 4 a.m and ended at 10.30 p.m, including overseeing Protistha’s homework sitting under a tree between two training sessions, yielded results. At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Howrah resident and Dipa Karmakar understudy for five years recorded two vaults of 12.950 (Difficulty score: 4.4, Execution – 8.550) and 12.700 (Difficulty score – 4.000, Execution – 8.700), plus a 0.2 bonus mark, to average 13.025, which put her 7th in the Apparatus finals for Vault. Protistha also recorded strong routines on the floor exercise and beam and is third reserve for All Around Finals.
According to recent Code of Points, in women’s elite gymnastics, a female gymnast can earn a specific 0.20 point bonus on vault by performing two separate vaults that feature saltos in different directions (one forward and one backward) during the second flight phase, provided both are landed without a fall.
Father Suman Samanta recalled his daughter being fascinated by a gymnastics club in the neighbourhood, run by a coaching couple. “Protistha thought it was ‘dhamaal-type’ activity so she insisted on joining. I am in private service, and we are middle-class. But I never could play football or cricket because we came from poverty. So when she said ‘sports’, we didn’t think twice. But it’s fully credit to her mother – she is the engine to Protistha’s gymnastics,” he said.
At Glasgow, the 22-year-old joined two other teammates on the Tsukahara full layout, a solid execution of takeoff and turns for 12.950, which could’ve been higher if not for a slight step back. On the second vault, a handspring front pike half, she was mighty powerful and scored 12.700.
It was in pursuit of that strength in her routines that Protistha had moved for five and a half years to Agartala, training under BS Nandy, an understudy to Dipa. “She was super talented. She’s always had good speed, strength, stamina, and flexibility for that pike front somersault,” Nandy said. “She picked things early, and didn’t need too many repetitions to get it right. In a few practices, she would get really good. But the biggest difference from many other gymnasts was her strong mind. Unbreakable,” he recalled.
Medals at state and four at Khelo India followed, as she completed her graduation and took a job with Railways, returning to Kolkata. “Sir daantega” (Sir will scold), used to be the buzzword in her early years, around which the Samanta family planned their wake-up alarms for 4.30 am. “Even for 6 a.m practice, the day would begin at 4.30 for Shubhada and Protistha. Rains, traffic jams, packing school bag, cooking – we had to keep all that in mind, because studies and graduation were important. They would sit under a tree and do homework when there were two trainings,” Suman recalls.
Shubhada was a homemaker and devoted to Protistha’s dream. “I didn’t understand gymnastics. But I understood her dream and stubbornness. Even as a kid, she would enter the house with a cartwheel and spin and twist and tumble around the house. The discipline came from training,” she said.
The other hobby was music, which developed her sense of rhythm. It showed on her floor exercise lines too. Though Eshitaa Rawale’s Kuchipudi-inspired choreography from Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a hit with the commentators, Protistha riffing off the Dance of Envy, weaving in Shiamak Davar’s hook steps from Dil Toh Pagal Hai and combining it with serious acrobatics, gained praise. The front layout full was seamless, and she stuck a good double tuck landing with a tiny hop for 10.750. Her front layout also salvaged an otherwise wobbly balance beam routine.
In vault qualification, World Championships medallist Lia Monica Fontaine topped with 13.750, which is 0.725 more than the Indian’s 7th place start. Protistha will need to nail the landing, cut out deductions, maybe add half a twist to go from 360 to 540 and raise difficulty, to get into medal contention. Pranati Nayak is third reserve, finishing on 12.575.
For the Kolkata Samata family, it’s yet another monsoon, this time watching their daughter on TV. “I have never stopped Protistha from doing difficult vaults because she is good at this, and sensible,” mother Shubhada assures. Even she learnt a spot of leaps and weaves, running past jammed traffic with her daughter. “It’s her interest. How can anyone stop her?” she asks.
