I missed coach Chertkov, but got over it: Ashish Kumar

Guangzhou, Nov 16 (PTI)

Bronze medalist Ashish Kumar

After Ashish Kumar opened a new chapter for India in gymnastics by clinching the country's first ever medal in this sport -- a bronze, in the Asian Games here today, the youngster said he missed the presence of his coach Vladimir Chertkov. But the gymnast added that he was determined not to make it lose his focus. "On the day he (Chertkov) left I was hugely disappointed and was quite unhappy. But I had to get out of it, otherwise I would not have won a medal," said the 19-year-old after bagging the third spot in the men's floor exercise routine today. Ashish , who came to national limelight during last month's Commonwealth Games by winning a vault silver and bronze in floor, tallied 14.925 points to take the bronze in a bitterly fought contest, in which China's Zhang Chenglong and Korea's Kim Soo Myun tied for the gold with identical 15.400 points.

Ashish said he is now targeting an Olympic medal in 2012 at London by improving his ranking. "Now, confidence is there to go for an Olympic medal. But I am currently ranked 32nd. So, next year I would participate in a number of World Cups to improve that," he said, adding he dedicated his medal to the entire team of coaches who have worked with him. "I am very happy because it is the first gymnastics medal in the history of Indian gymnastics (at the Asian Games)," the Allahabad-born railway employee, added. Ashish's performance is even more praiseworthy considering that the team's foreign coach Chertkov deserted it before the commencement of the Games and returned to India after he was miffed with the contingent authorities over being denied permission to be in the opening ceremony march past on November 12.

Ashish said he did not have the time to practice for this tough world class event which had China, Korea and Japan in the fray. "It was very tough for me because I did not have much time to practice for the Asian Games. We have just had the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. And it is very tough with China and Korea (in fray)," said Ashish. "I started in 1994 when I was four years old. Now I am 19. It's a great experience. I won silver (on vault) and bronze (in floor) at the Commonwealth Games and now I have another bronze at the Asian Games." Team's coach Ashok Mishra, who is with Ashish since January 2009 in a succession of camps to prepare the gymnasts for this year's CWG, said that the competition was very close and the gymnast did not feel the absence of Chertkov. "It (Chertkov's leaving) has not made a difference. He trained under a foreign coach as a child. We have trained the gymnasts for almost two years in a succession of camps which has paid dividends," he said. Among those who were pushed out of the medal bracket in the floor apparatus were China's Feng Zhe who finished with 14.900 points, Hishashi Mizutori of Japan (14.825), Yoo Won Chul (Korea, 14.275), who got a penalty of 0.3, Uzbek Masharipov Otabek (14.000) and Ryotaka Deguchi (Japan, 13.425).

Gold medal winner Zhong Chenglong is the world horizontal bar champion while the man who tied for the No 1 spot, Korean Kim Soo Myun, was a member of his country's team that won a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his pet event is floor.