India’s Joydeep Karmakar missed world record by just one point in 50m Rifle Prone men’s event qualification round before settling for silver in the ISSF World Cup here today.
Karmakar shot a series of 100, 100, 99, 100, 100, 100 to total 599 out of 600 - just a point shy of world record 600 - in the qualification round before scoring 97.2 (10.8+9.0+9.1+10.5+10.3+6.7+10.5+ 10.1+10.1+10.1) in the final round for an aggregate of 681.2.
Warren Potent of Australia, who had an aggregate of 682.4 (600+99.4), won the gold and his series of 100, 1000, 100, 100, 100, 100 equalled the world record of 600 out of 600 in the qualification round.
Another Indian Omkar Singh also won a silver in 10m Rifle Prone men’s event with a total score of 681.2(584+97.2) behind Beijing Olympics silver medallist Jong Oh Jin of Korea who shot 682.4(583+99.4).
Omkar led the qualification round ahead of Jong Jin with a series of 98, 99, 95, 98, 98, 96 but his sixth and final round shot of 6.7 ruined his chances for gold.
It was also the first ISSF medal of Omkar’s career.
For 30-year-old Karmakar, it was his first international medal after appearing for the first time in the final round of an ISSF World Cup. He had participated in a single ISSF World Cup Stage - in Resende (Brazil) - four years ago, without any podium finish.
He said he was inspired by Abhinav Bindra’s gold winning feat in Beijing Olympics.
“This was my first time in an ISSF World Cup final round. I have been shooting for 15 years, but I could not reach these results, something was missing on the psychological side, which is really important in shooting,” he said.
“I started to dedicate more and more time to shooting in 2007, and these are the results. My next goal is the Olympic Games, of course. Since (Abhinav) Bindra’s victory at the 2008 Games, shooting has become more and more popular in India. He showed us that it is possible to get there. And I will try to get there,” said Karmakar.
For Omkar, the next target is the Commonwealth Games at home in October.
“This is my first time on a podium of an ISSF World Cup stage. I have been training a lot for this match. I took part in the Commonwealth Championship, but unluckily I did not make it to the podium there. I was looking for a medal, and I found it here.
“This World Cup has been fantastic. Not only for me, the whole Indian team succeeded in Sydney. I will try to make it into the team for the Commonwealth Games now. I am really motivated,” he said.
