Rhythmic Gymnastics in Maharashtra

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Wikipedia — Akshata Shete, Pooja Surve, Kshipra Joshi, Palak Kour Bijral, Rajani Sharma, Sportskeeda — Meghana Reddy 2018 Asian Championships coverage, The Week, Telangana Today — Meghana Reddy Gundlapally profiles, News on Air — Muskan Rana National Games gold, Gymnastics Federation of India (gymfedindia.com). These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: Modern Europe
Category: Gymnastics
Olympic discipline: Yes
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: Olympic (TOPS eligible)
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 3

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: GFI
Ministry recognition: Gymnastics Federation of India — Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — as at 2026Source: Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — List of recognised National Sports Federations
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: In scope — TOPS covers Olympic medal prospects
Olympic status: On the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Rhythmic Gymnastics is listed on SportSupport in the gymnastics category. Its recorded origin is Modern Europe. It is on the Olympic programme. We list GFI as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Rhythmic Gymnastics is on the pathway that runs through India's national sports federations to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), with selection running through GFI against its published benchmarks. Being on this pathway is not itself a statement that the discipline is currently in TOPS — TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group chosen by the Mission Olympic Cell.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for rhythmic gymnastics athletes in India.

Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)
Monthly stipend (₹10,000 for selected Khelo India athletes), boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.
Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)
Central government scheme covering training, foreign exposure, equipment and an out-of-pocket allowance (up to ₹50,000/month) for athletes inducted by the Mission Olympic Cell. TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines rather than every Olympic sport, and induction is decided athlete by athlete; we hold no current list confirming whether rhythmic gymnastics is among the covered disciplines.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to rhythmic gymnastics.
Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons
Lifetime monthly pension (₹20,000 for Olympic/World/Asian/CWG medallists; scaled by tier) for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria — Government of India.

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Indian Players

3 profiles

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Rules

Rhythmic gymnastics combines dance, flexibility and apparatus handling, performed only by women at Olympic level. Seniors compete on four of the five apparatus — hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope — in routines of 1:15 to 1:30 (individual) or 2:15 to 2:30 (group, five gymnasts), performed to music on a 13m x 13m carpet. Scores combine a difficulty component (body difficulties, apparatus difficulties, dynamic elements with rotation) with an execution score that starts at 10.0, plus an artistry assessment; deductions follow apparatus drops, loss of control, stepping outside the carpet and imprecise form. The apparatus must stay in continuous motion throughout the routine.

Authoritative rulebook: GFI. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across gymnastics sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced rhythmic gymnastics squad list.

All-around
Sum of scores across every apparatus for the discipline.
Apparatus finals
Top qualifiers contest the medal on each individual apparatus.
Team
Total team score used at Olympics, Worlds and Asian Games.
Rhythmic & trampoline
Distinct FIG-recognised disciplines with their own apparatus and scoring.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in rhythmic gymnastics at a federation-recognised event.

Hoop (80-90cm inner diameter, minimum 300g)
Ball (18-20cm diameter, minimum 400g, rubber or synthetic)
Clubs (pair, 40-50cm each, minimum 150g per club)
Ribbon (satin, 6m long for seniors, on a stick up to 60cm)
Rope (hemp or synthetic, length proportional to the gymnast)
13m x 13m competition carpet
Leotard, half-shoes (toe slippers) and grip/rosin

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Gymnastics Federation of India

Gymnastics Federation of India is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Rhythmic Gymnastics. Its recognition status as we hold it: Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (as at 2026). Recognition is granted year by year, so read the federation profile for the source.

Origin: Modern Europe
Olympic: Yes
Paralympic: No
Category: Gymnastics

GFI profile →All federations →

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in rhythmic gymnastics.

Rhythmic Gymnastics National Championships
Part of the broader National Championships — All Gymnastics Disciplines, organized by the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI, founded 17 February 1951) for age-group and senior categories.
National Games
A Jammu & Kashmir gymnast training at the state's Gymnastic Academy won gold in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2025 (38th) National Games.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in rhythmic gymnastics.

Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships
India first competed in 2009 (Mie, Japan), with Akshata Shete among the pioneering team. Due to underfunding, the team had to buy a shared set of equipment at the venue itself because what they'd brought didn't meet international standards.
Commonwealth Games
Pooja Surve was the only Indian rhythmic gymnast to reach an individual final, at the 2010 Games. Meghana Reddy Gundlapally was India's sole representative at Gold Coast 2018, and trained without her coach after being denied venue access.
Asian Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
Reddy's 19th-place finish at the 2018 Kuala Lumpur edition was India's best result since 2009 — India has not yet reached an Asian Championships final in the sport.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for rhythmic gymnastics. The national championship under GFI remains the top domestic competition.

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International Players

Globally recognised rhythmic gymnastics athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for rhythmic gymnastics maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in rhythmic gymnastics — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

Rhythmic gymnastics in India has produced genuinely determined athletes navigating real resource constraints — Palak Kour Bijral trained outdoors before the 2014 Commonwealth Games because her gym was under construction, and later spoke publicly about poor facilities in Jammu
Families have reportedly spent lakhs of rupees annually on private, foreign coaching to compete internationally, reflecting limited institutional support for the sport
Meghana Reddy Gundlapally missed a potential 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification attempt after falling ill before the deciding championship
Playing pathway through GFI's state academies (including dedicated centres like J&K Sports Council's Gymnastic Academy) and national championships; coaching and judging is a genuine post-competition pathway, pursued by several retired gymnasts including Surve and Shete

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Related academies

0 listed

No rhythmic gymnastics academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

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FAQs

Common questions about rhythmic gymnastics in India.

Who governs Rhythmic Gymnastics in India?▾

We list GFI as the Indian governing/organising body for Rhythmic Gymnastics, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Rhythmic Gymnastics an Olympic sport?▾

Yes, Rhythmic Gymnastics is on the Olympic programme. Athletes selected by GFI against its published criteria can be considered for TOPS funding.

How do I start playing Rhythmic Gymnastics in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under GFI. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Rhythmic Gymnastics athletes?▾

TOPS supports a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines selected by the Mission Olympic Cell, rather than every Olympic sport. We hold no current list confirming whether Rhythmic Gymnastics is among them, so we make no TOPS claim for it. State governments give cash awards to medallists at events they notify. Rhythmic Gymnastics does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Rhythmic Gymnastics in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Rhythmic Gymnastics in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.