Olympian Joydeep Karmakar has resigned from his post as the National Rifle coach. Karmakar was appointed as the chief coach of 50m rifle last year. He is said to have quit his role citing toxic environment and politics withing the Indian shooting team. He is now the third coach to resign from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) within a month.
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Karmakar had confirmed that he has sent his resignation earlier this month to NRAI Secretary general K Sultan Singh on June 10. Speaking to the Tribune, he stated, “It is true that I have resigned. I had not heard from the NRAI about the new contract. Also I wanted to get away from the toxic environment within the team.”
Earlier this month, India’s trap coach Australian Russell Mark resigned along with his wife Lauren Mark. Lauren was the skeet coach and also the high performance manager. The main reason for their resignations were the delay in their contract renewal. There was also a growing displeasure with the newly appointed High Performance Director of the team, Dr Pierre Beauchamp.
Karmakar also had a public fallout with Beaucamp during the Cairo World Cup last year. He was manhandled by Beaucamp owing to a difference of opinion between them. “The ecosystem isn’t very conducive to the growth of shooting. I hope things change soon. If these continue, we will be in big trouble ahed of the Paris Olympics,” said Karmakar as quoted by Sportstar.
Karmakar’s was appointed after India failed to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. His contract ran till 2025. His main target was to prepare a good team of rifle shooters for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. He has been replaced by Shooter Manoj Kumar, who has been in the job since the Baku World Cup this year.
Infact, Manoj Kumar was appointed as the chief coach of the Rifle team during the Baku World Cup last month even before Karmakar’s resignation.
Rifle coach Joydeep Karmakar resigns citing toxic environment within team
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