Latest news with #Joydeep
Time of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Adriyan, a new shooting star on the rise
Kolkata: Adriyan Karmakar was seven when his father Joydeep missed an Olympic medal narrowly by finishing fourth at the London Games in 2012. Having watched that event on television, the youngster grew up with a legacy to carry forward. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Last week, the 20-year-old made a statement by winning two medals — a silver in the 50m rifle prone event and a bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions — at his maiden ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. Interestingly, Adriyan shot with the same weapon that his father had used at the Olympics. "I started shooting with a different weapon. But shifted to this gun since it is lighter," he stated. "It was a big stage. I am happy, but there's still room for improvement. It was challenging too as I had to adjust to the cold and windy conditions there," Adriyan told TOI on return to the country on Sunday. Wearing a new attire, Adriyan struggled as the leather and canvas of his jacket shrunk in the 2 degrees Centigrade on the match day. The India junior No. 1 shooter put up a good fight against French Olympian Romain Aufrere, who went on to win gold in the 3P event final. "I only came to know about him (Romain) being an Olympian when the competitors were introduced in the final round. But I shot with an open mind," he stated. Shooting came naturally to Adriyan, who picked up the game watching his father at different tournaments and national camps. According to Adriyan, being an Olympian shooter's son has both its pros and cons. "Yes, being my father's son, there's high expectations, but it was also because of him (Joydeep) that the game came naturally to me," he pointed out. Joydeep felt Adriyan's advantage is that he is technically very sound. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Adriyan used to listen to all that I used to discuss with my father when he was a kid. He is strong with that knowledge now," Joydeep said. Adriyan himself is also a keen learner. "I have interacted with (Abhinav) Bindra sir, (Jaspal) Rana sir who are all my father's friends. At the same time at Suhl, I went up to talk to coaches of other teams also to learn whatever I can," he stated. A Khelo India gold medal winner in 2022 and 2023, Adriyan aims to make the India side for the Olympics. "Definitely that's the dream, but I have to keep performing," Adriyan said looking ahead.
New Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Sport
- New Indian Express
From shadow shooting to Junior World Cup silver: Adriyan's journey
CHENNAI: The day when Adriyan Karmakar shot silver in prone on his debut at the junior World Cup at Suhl (Germany), thousands of miles away one person was silently admiring his son's effort. It is not easy to be born into a shooting family where a father has left an illustrious trail of records and medals. It's never easy to emulate such a star. 'I am emotional because in 2010 I had won a silver at the same event (but senior) in Sydney,' Joydeep told this daily. Adriyan lost the gold to Sweden's Jesper Johansson by just 0.3 points. Griffin Lake (USA) won bronze with 624.6 points. For Adriyan, who started shooting at seven and competed at the senior nationals three years later (it was allowed by the National Rifle Association of India back then), however, the path he chose was not easy. Father Joydeep was not just an incredible shooter, he finished fourth at the London Olympcis, but is an able master (coach) with a keen eye for talent. Sitting in Bhopal, he was recollecting the day when he had a serious discussion with his son about pursuing the sport. 'It must be when he was around 16 or 17 and it was not a discussion,' he corrected the word and said it was a spat. 'I thought he was not being too serious about the sport and I asked him to quit. I told him shooting is not what you should do. There was a lot of tension and he said that his place was in the shooting range and he shall shoot. I told him if he wants to shoot he has to be serious and I will support him financially, morally and mentally.' Joydeep realised that brought in a kind of transformation in his son. Months later he went on to win at Khelo India Games and worked very hard to improve his game. 'He was mentally in the sport,' he said. Still, Joydeep was not expecting this kind of results from 20-year-old Adriyan. 'I was hoping for a score around 620-624 but a 626.7 off 60 shots should be considered great,' said the father. In fact, Adriyan started shadow shooting in Kolkata and continued with it for quite some time. 'He won a medal without shooting in a range because we did not have one in Kolkata,' he said.
