AGARTALA, Aug 21 (TIWN): Olympian gymnast Dipa Karmakar have expressed splendid pleasure with the grand welcome at Delhi, now the wait begins for the people of Tripura who are eagerly waiting for Dipa’s arrival in the state on August 22. After Dipa became 4th in final and just narrowly missed the medal, she was made the icon of West Bengal Kanyashree scheme immediately. However, Sports Dept. of Tripura led by Sports Minister Sahid Chowdhury called a preparatory meeting at Birchandra Library to discuss how to welcome Dipa. As per the plan she will be directly taken to swami Vivekananda stadium where Tripura Sports Minister will remain present, along with others. Olympian gymnast Dipa Karmakar touched down in Delhi to a rousing welcomeon Saturday after finishing a creditable fourth in the individual vault final at the Rio Olympics, India's best performance in the event in an international competition. The Agartala girl missed out on an Olympic medal by a mere 0.15 points despite executing the dangerous Produnova vault in her second attempt to secure a remarkable 15.066 points in the final. Dipa and Nandi will arrive in Agartala on Monday to a rousing reception by hundreds of students and sports enthusiasts.

Tripura sports minister Shahid Chowdhury and the state sports council chairman Dilip Chakraborty will formally receive Dipa at Agartala airport after her flight from Delhi lands around 9.50 am.

Subsequently, a cavalcade of 200 motorcycles will lead Dipa and her coach, who will be driven in an open jeep to Swami Vivekananda ground in the heart of the town. There will be a rally by yoga performers and gymnasts before the felicitation programme.

This will be followed by a speech by chief minister Manik Sarkar, who will reach the ground at 11am. Dipa and Nandi will also be requested to briefly address the gathering of students of various schools and colleges.

Incidentally, Dipa will appear for the second semester exam of her MA (political science) course from Tuesday. She is studying in a distance course from Tripura Central University and has completed her first semester. This will be her second semester exam. For now, she will be concentrating only on her studies. Then she will get down to rigorous practice for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.