Karmakar eyes glory

Ideally, Joydeep Karmakar should be delighted after his consistency persuaded the national shooting federation to hand him the quota place for London Olympics won for the country by Hari Om Singh in the 50m prone event.

Ideally, Joydeep Karmakar should be delighted after his consistency persuaded the national shooting federation to hand him the quota place for London Olympics won for the country by Hari Om Singh in the 50m prone event. However, with four months left for the Games, the marksman is yet to sort out the most vital aspect of the competition --- ammunition.

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Shooters finalise ammunition for their weapons well in advance. But Karmakar, instead of focussing entirely on his training, has to take breaks to travel to Europe for the right ammo for his new gun, funded by Mittal Champions Trust (MCT).

On Saturday, he returned from England, not sure how much longer it would take to procure the right kind of ammo. "It's a personal thing…I want to make sure that I have the right ammunition for the Olympics, that's why I am taking so many pains," said Karmakar on the sidelines of the MCT event on Saturday.

While the MCT has taken care of the shooter's gun and ammo needs, he is waiting for a sizeable sum to come from the sports ministry. "I am hopeful the money will come soon."