A first year economics student of Delhi Universitys Hansraj College, Kartikey Joshi (18) has just returned from a ten-day National Shooting Championship held in Thodokuza, Ernakulam district, Kerala between January 10-19. Organised by the National Rifles Association of India, the event attracted 1,000 sharpshooters from across the country. Participating in the 10 metres and 50 metres air pistol events, Kartikey averaged scores of 560 and 600 which makes him eligible to enter the trials for selection of the national team.Hooked to this sport from the age of 13 and coached at the Doon Institute of Shooting and Sports headed by Mayanak Marwah, Kartikey improved quickly and was selected for the state shooting championship in 2002. And for his rapid strides in sharpshooting, he expresses gratitude to the encourage-ment of his parents Brij Bhushan Joshi, a real estate entrepreneur and mother Madhu, a basketball coach with the Sports Authority of India.
After bagging a silver medal in his very first competitive event, Kartikey took to sharpshooting in right earnest, bagging his first gold at the Uttarakhand State Championship in 2004. In the same year, he bagged four golds in the Northern India Shooting Championship as well as two state-level golds and one bronze.
In 2008 he participated in the National Championship where he won a silver. This impressive string of victories won him invitations to Commonwealth Games India Camps organised in Hyderabad and Indore in July and August last year.
But winning all these titles and medals hasnt entirely been due to natural ability. Resolute and determin-ed, this top-ranked marksman practices rigorously. I put in almost eight hours of practice every day, says Kartikey.
All set to move to the next level of competitive sharpshooting, he now has his eyes set on the forthcoming Junior World Cup trials scheduled in Pune from March 3-18. If selected he will emplane for Munich, Germany to participate in the Junior World Cup Championship to be held later this year (May 12-21). Im also practicing under the supervision of Olympian Jaspal Rana for the 2012 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. In 2012 I hope to replicate the feat of Avinash Bindra who won Indias first gold in the Beijing Olympics, says Kartikey, the new rising star of Indian sharpshooting.
Natasha Pathak (Dehradun)