If the son was busy winning medals in his first World Cup, the father was focused on putting finishing touches to the shooting range that was set to be opened within a fortnight. This was an overview of the activities in end-May of the men in the Karmakar family from Rishi Ecoview in New Town.
Joydeep Karmakar opened the biggest shooting range in Calcutta on June 4 under the banner of Joydeep Karmakar Shooting Academy (JKSA) while Adriyan, all of 20, won a silver and a bronze at the ISSF Junior World Cup that concluded in Suhl, Germany on May 27.
The indoor range, which will help Karmakar groom more Adriyans, has come up in Bablatala, a stone’s throw away from the Dum Dum airport runway.
“This is the biggest range in Calcutta. There are 20 lanes allowing 20 shooters to compete or practise simultaneously,” said Karmakar of the 10m air rifle range. It is spread over 6,000sq ft. “The space used to be a godown.”
The range is the third being run by JKSA in the city after a four-lane one opened at Siddha Town in Rajarhat in April. The coaching outfit has opened another range at SPK Jain Futuristic School in New Town from June. But unlike the Siddha Town range, it is not open to all.
Adriyan Karmakar at the ISSF World Cup in Suhl, Germany after winning silver in 50m rifle prone
JKSA, Karmakar clarified, is no longer associated with The Newtown School, where he had helped design the indoor range. That range, which was open to outside shooters as well, is where Adriyan was groomed. “But now they are not that interested in shooting. We were asked to take classes only 23 days a year, which was grossly insufficient to train players for competitions,” he said .
Adriyan’s biggest adversary at Suhl was perhaps the wind and the cold. “We had trained at Dr Karni Singh shooting range in Delhi, where the temperature veered around 40°C. In Germany, we had a day to get acclimatised to the outdoor range. The mercury there veered around 2°C,” Adriyan recalled.
“Getting used to wind and low temperature has been the bane of Indian shooters down the years in many events abroad,” said Joydeep. “So it is an extremely creditable result,” the former chief national coach said.
“In 50m prone (in which the shooter lies on the ground), all there is to do is to shoot my 60 shots and wait for the results,” he said. India opened its account in the World Cup with Adriyan’s silver in the event.
The 50m rifle three position event involved elimination, qualification and then the finals. “It takes place over two days and is quite nerve-wracking.” Adriyan came from behind to make a podium finish in the finals, in which the standing round was the last.
“That is the only round where one can make up lost ground with a good show as there are chances of the aim going awry for the others,” Adriyan said.
He was back home in time with his silver and bronze haul to attend his father’s range inauguration. It will not help him in his training, though, as his events require a 50m range.
Adriyan spoke to The Telegraph Salt Lake from Dehradun where he is attending the trials for the junior India shooting team. Father and son will be headed for the UK soon to scour for the best ammunition to suit his barrel before the next challenge — the Asian Championship in Kazakhstan in August.