Could Protha Samanta have scored high with low-difficulty vaults in the final

4 min readMumbaiJul 27, 2026 11:20 PM Protha Samanta could not be faulted for how she performed in the CWG Artic Gymnastics Vault final. On her two attempts with Difficulty values (D Score) of 4.4 and 4.0, the Indian finished with an average of 12.833.
She had started 7th out of 8 gymnasts. She finished 7th, albeit Apparatus Finals tend to be scrutinised more than Qualification rounds judges, and she scored lower than her Q score of 13.025. That incidentally was her career-best. So why was she never in medal contention?
The gold went to Canadian sensation Lia Monica Fontaine. Avg score: 14.000. Lia’s vaults carried a starting Difficulty value of 5.0 and 4.8. Should she pull off a decent execution, 9.8 points were assured as D-Score. Protha, on the other hand, was working with an 8.4 start, a full point less than the gold medall.
“Let’s be very clear. For her Difficulty levels, Protha did extremely well to reach the final,” says former CWG medall Ashish Kumar. “Even in the final, where scoring gets stricter than qualification, she didn’t have any major deductions. Just a small step in landing. She did well. We can’t expect more.”
The answer is in the arithmetic, not the artic.
Consider the start values of the finals who finished above Protha. Silver medall Abigail Martin (England, 13.799) – Combined D value of 9.8; Bronze winner Abigail Roper (Wales, 13.433) – 9; Emily Roper (Wales) – 9; Courtney McGregor (New Zealand) – 8.8; Georgia Godwin (Australia) – 8.8.
The only gymnast to finish below the Indian was England’s Ru Stacey – D value of 8, 0.4 less than Protha. She averaged 12.
“I would go so far as to say, Protha did better than anyone with those start values,” Ashish says.Story continues below this ad
Admirable effort
On her first, a Tsukahara layout full, her half-turn block came a little earlier on the vault before the back tw. The bent hunched landing cost her precious execution decimals. The feet were also split off the board and there was no pointy precision. But 12.700 (8.300 + 4.4) wasn’t a bad score.

The second vault was far more impressive. A Handspring front, a low difficulty on 4.0. But the landing was near-perfect on the metrics of judging. Just a small step. Straight legs – for a pike, good elevation off the board; the shape in the parabola looked good even if the knee jutted in form slightly. Marked at 8.66 on Execution, Protha picked the 0.2 bonus for variety as well.
All of India’s gymnastics medals from 2010 and 2014 came because Ashish and Dipa Karmakar consciously chose high-difficulty routines. Ashish, in fact, had the highest D scores in the field even at the Asian Games.
“Protha has maxed her Execution. The only way to get into the medal zone is to increase D values. It’s a long process. But she’s strong and very good at vault,” Ashish says. The learning phase and drills can take several months, he warns.Story continues below this ad
On the Tsukahara, Protha will need to upgrade from 360 to 720, i.e. add an entire second rotation on the stretch tw.
“That D level is good enough for CWG. Competitive,” Ashish says. On the front pike second vault, he suggests adding half a turn, at least.
Going from 360 to 540 is equally challenging.
“It’s a blind landing where you are facing one way with the body moving in the opposite direction. That takes a lot of practice too.”
Gymnastics is demanding, and even half a turn requires biomechanically altering a lot of the movements.Story continues below this ad
“She can do it. But the D Score can’t be more than 0.1, 0.2 less than other top contenders. Making the finals was good here,” Ashish ends.

VAULT FINAL STANDINGS:
1. Lia Monica Fontaine, Canada, 14.000
2. Abigail Martin, England, 13.799
3. Abigail Roper, Wales, 13.433
4. Emily Roper, Wales, 13.283
5. Courtney McGregor, New Zealand, 13.183
6. Georgia Godwin, Australia, 13.116
7. Protha Samanta, India, 12.883
8. Ru Stacey, England, 12.000