Tennis elbow troubles Joydeep

The last few months have been a roller-coaster ride for rifle shooter Joydeep Karmakar. First, he missed out on winning a quota place for himself, but then, when the team was announced, he was pleasantly surprised to find his name in the Olympic squad against Hariom Singh’s quota place.

Since then, he has been working hard to make the most of the opportunity he has got. And after a month-long rigorous training in Germany, the shooter has come back to India for his neck and right hand treatment.

“I have a tennis elbow and that is causing problem to my neck and right hand. I trained in Germany for a month but had to come back for this rehabilitation programme in Kolkata,” Karmakar told DNA.
Asked if his problem was worrisome as there are only 14 days left for the Games, the shooter said he’d be fine in 3-4 days. “I was a little upset because of my neck, but since I came back to Kolkata and started the rehab programme, I am feeling much better now. I think I will be perfectly alright in three to four days,” he said.

Karmakar will be participating in the 50m rifle prone category along with Gagan Narang. In Germany, Karmakar was training under Heinz Reinkemeier, the coach, who has also been associated with Abhinav Bindra.

The Kolkata marksman said that while in Germany, he saw many shooters from across the globe working hard in Germany but when it came to the Indian shooters, they were not far behind.

“I was training with shooters from Germany, The Netherlands and other countries. Though they are keeping a low profile, they have been working very hard for the Games. But, I also learnt that we Indians are not behind and even those shooters know this well,” he said.

Karmakar will leave for London on July 17 for the last phase of his training before the Olympics. “The final phase of training will be very important. It will allow me to get a feel of the weather and environment. I hope it goes well.” he said.