The Baidyabati girl who loved to burst balloons in fairs and was hooked to the action of the firearm-bearing force in the TV serial CID just a decade ago has registered a joint Commonwealth Games (CWG) record and brought home a silver medal in shooting on her maiden appearance at a multidiscipline international event.
Shooter Mehuli Ghosh, 17, who was off to Korea for another event from Delhi itself immediately on her return from Gold Coast, was back in Calcutta recently and let t2 into her world of guns and targets, seated in the New Town apartment of her coach and mentor Joydeep Karmakar.
When did you first see any serious shooting?
The 2008 Olympics on TV. It was strange how they stood at one place and shot while spectators clapped behind them. In CID, they only had revolvers. That was the first time I saw an airgun.
Did that make you want to take up shooting?
Not yet. I also loved swimming and watched the swimming events. I had won silver in a local swimming contest in 100m freestyle. I even learnt karate in school for a while.
How was your first day at the shooting range?
There is a shooting club in Serampore close to our house in Baidyabati. I was 13 when my parents took me there. I expected to be handed a revolver. But they gave me a rifle and got me to shoot 50m prone. The aim, the recoil, the scent of gunpowder… I loved it. After six months, I shifted to airgun and participated in the Youth and Junior State Championship with just two months’ basic training. I was 14 then. My score was 380 out of 400. Later I realised that score would have got me a silver in the senior category too had I registered for it.
You also went through a dark phase after an accident at that club.
Yes. I was practising and the trigger went off accidentally and the pellet hit the upper arm of a worker who had mistakenly entered the shooting zone before ceasefire was announced. What happened afterwards made me lose my self-belief. I was asked not to come for practice anymore at the club. I skipped the contests I had qualified for. I cut off contact with everyone in shooting but the news reached school and people would discuss the incident loudly behind my back so that I could overhear. Some even walked up and asked: “So you shot a man?” I stopped stepping out of home for four months.
Were you already competing nationally when that happened?
Yes. I had got a bronze at the pre-National Youth championship and had qualified for the trials of the National Youth and Junior Championship. We are a middle class family and my father had already bought me a gun for Rs 62,000 and spent another Rs 45,000 for other kit. Even when I tried to do dry practice at home, holding position with the unloaded gun, I kept thinking that shooting perhaps was not for me. It is my parents who stood like a rock behind me and found me another range and trainer.
How did you meet Joydeep Karmakar?
I met Joydeep sir much later. My parents took me to the Dankuni range where Boom sir (Bibaswan Ganguly) used to coach. We heard he was with Joydeep sir. The journey from Baidyabati to Dankuni involved a train ride to Bally, then a change of train to Dankuni and then a long walk or a rickshaw ride. One of my parents started accompanying me. I would start at 6.30am to reach class on time and stay there till the afternoon. Before tournaments, this was my daily schedule. One day, after a couple of months, I heard Joydeep sir was coming. I was on edge all morning as I knew this was my chance to catch his eye. When he came in I was practising but I could not look at him lest he thought I lacked focus. Boom sir challenged me to hit a 10.8 (0.1 short of bullseye). I got 10 in the first shot and he gave me a second chance. I hit 10.8 at second go and he took my target card to show Joydeep sir.
The shift to Calcutta for practice must have increased travel time?
Yes. To two-and-a-half hours. At first Joydeep sir’s academy was at the Sports Academy of India complex in Salt Lake. But a year later, with two weeks to go for the Nationals, we found the place locked. All our equipment, even my gun, was inside. There was no practice for two weeks. I got my gun back with just three days to go for my event.
But from your performance at your first Nationals, no one could have made out your practice was hampered like that!
It was just the second time that I hit beyond 400. Once I had hit 414.7 in practice. I had taken the scorecard and pasted it on my cupboard next to my bed. When I hit 415.8 — it was a qualification round national record — Boom sir told me to prepare for the finals. That was a shock. The qualification rounds take place in batches of 50 or 60 and there is no knowing who makes it to the top eight till all five batches are complete. I still remember how half the Bengal contingent was seated behind me and how loudly they were cheering each of my shots. I had qualified for the finals of all three age categories and had just five-minute breaks between events. I got gold in the junior, smiled back at my supporters, pocketed my smile, moved to the next event.
You got nine medals in 2016 but your 2017 haul was even richer — 11 medals with eight golds!
Yes. I had got back from a tournament in Japan just two days before, after a 52-hour journey. I had slept through the day before. We call it active rest, waking up in between and taking a walk before sleeping again. This way there is no lethargy.
When was your first international flight?
It was to the Czech Republic for the Meeting of the Shooting Hopes. It would have been my first-ever flight, too, had my father and I not had to rush to Delhi for my visa.
How was your Commonwealth Games experience?
I was the last in the team to reach Gold Coast. It was the first time I travelled without my gun as it had already gone with our manager. Australia does not allow people below 18 to travel with firearms.
What happened at the big moment in the finals? Couldn’t you see the scoreboard?
I could see only my own score and rank. The monitor with the overall scores was quite far. Before the final shot, I only knew I had to hit a high 10.
And you hit bullseye!
Yes. A 10.9.
And then you thought it was over and you had won?
My name was on top. I did not see “shoot-off” written next to both our names. I had left my position when the range official told me about the shoot-off. So I was at a disadvantage when I went back for the decider.
Do you look back at CWG thinking how narrowly you missed gold or how you got a silver among seniors on your maiden appearance?
I look at each tournament as a learning experience. When I called Joydeep sir and said sorry, he said: “You will never make that mistake again.”
Did you meet stars from other disciplines at the CWG?
Yes. Mary Kom, P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal… The India team was housed in an eight-storeyed apartment. Joydeep sir had told me there would be a big 24-hour canteen and a relaxation centre but I must not get swayed by all the novelty and remember what I had gone there for.
What comes next?
The World Cup in Munich in May and the World Championship in South Korea where Olympic quota places are up for grabs. In between, there is the Asian Games in August.
Sudeshna Banerjee
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