New Delhi: Former India’s chief shooting coach Joydeep Karmakar heaped high praise on the shooters for their extraordinary Asian Games 2023 performances but stated it won’t help in the Paris Olympics next year. Indian shooters bagged a mammoth 22 medals in the sport, bettering nine medals from the previous edition in Jakarta in 2018. India bagged seven gold, nine silver and six bronze medals in shooting as they likes of Palak Gulia, Sift Kaur Samra, Rudrankksh Patil and Manu Bhaker among some of the notable performers.
A former Olympian himself, Karmakar missed on a medal during the 2012 edition as he finished fourth by the barest of margins. The 43-year-old stated Olympics will pose a different test for the athletes.
“I don’t think it (Asian Games 2023 show) will help in the Olympics. This is the Asian games. The Olympics is different. Let us not mix things because we need to maintain a perspective on things,” Karmakar said during a virtual press conference.
While India faced the Chinese challenge in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, there were no threats from countries like Germany, Russia, United States to name a few. “This is Asia. Of course, we have the Chinese, who are at the top of the world. But there is no US, Germany or Russia. There are other strong countries that will be in the Olympics,” he said.
Karmakar, however, stated that India’s continental show this year will give them confidence in making the Olympics finals. “But if we go by the stats, the scores obtained by 60 per cent of the shooters here will see them reach the Olympics final.
“As a coach myself, we need to be practical in a technical way, as much as we really want to win medals. We want them to reach the final, but in the final, there are no favourites. Anyone can win a medal. So, the final is my objective. There is a lot of volatility in this sport,” he added.
Bhowneesh Mendiratta (Men’s trap), Rudrankksh Patil (Men’s 10m air rifle), Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Sheoran (both Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions), Mehuli Ghosh (Women’s 10m air rifle), Sift Kaur Samra (Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions) and Rajeshwari Kumari (Women’s trap) have so far qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024.
(The virtual press conference was facilitated by Sony Sports Network, who are the official broadcasters of Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou)
