Adriyan Karmakar

Of: Rishi Eco View, Action Area II, New Town

For: Winning gold medals in the 50m rifle 3 positions shooting event at multiple national and international championships.

If Adriyan started the year by defending his title at the Khelo India Youth Games 2024 in Chennai in January, he ended it by winning the junior National title at the 67th National Shooting Championship at the age of 19 in Bhopal in December.

In between, he secured a gold medal at the 56th State Shooting Championships 2024 while setting the state record of 591/600 in his rifle event in August. And in November, he represented India at the FISU World University Championship in Delhi, where he was part of the gold-medal-winning team.

Incidentally, Adriyan’s Olympian father and coach, Joydeep Karmakar, returned to competitive shooting at the national level after a break of six years, winning a bronze in the Masters’ (45-plus) category in the National Shooting Championship. His wife Radhika too competed in the 10m air pistol event of the championship in the Masters’ category.

Anish Sarkar

Of: Gopalpur

For: Becoming the world’s youngest FIDE-rated chess player

Anish Sarkar has to sit on a stack of three plastic chairs to reach the chessboard placed on the table at his training school. Seven months ago, when his parents took the tot to the Dhanuka Dhunseri Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy, run by FD Block resident and India’s second Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, the three-year-old was initially refused as the cut-off age for admission is five years. But at his father’s insistence, the officials checked his chess skills and were compelled to admit the prodigy, who was born after the pandemic — on January 26, 2021. Competing in the West Bengal State Under-9 Open Chess Championship in October, he scored an impressive 5.5/8 and finished 24th in a field of 140 players, claiming victories over two rated opponents in the final rounds. Next, he competed in the state Under-13 Open, challenging older opponents. This match met the FIDE requirement of playing five rated players, securing him an initial FIDE rating of 1555. Thus, at the age of three years, eight months and 19 days, Anish made history as the youngest-rated chess player.

Rimjhim Sinha

Of: Kestopur

For: Giving a clarion call to reclaim the night on August 14 that snowballed into the biggest apolitical civil agitation in recent memory in Calcutta, seeking justice for the slain doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The 29-year-old sociology postgraduate had posted on Facebook a call to reclaim the night on August 14 on behalf of all women and be present at the 8B bus stand in Jadavpur at midnight. This was in the aftermath of the RG Kar college authorities blaming the victim of the horrific rape and murder, suggesting that a woman should never have been alone at night, even at her workplace. The call led to protest gatherings at innumerable locations in Calcutta and across Bengal that night and sparked off a prolonged agitation.

Rimjhim was named the Serar Sera Bangali by the TV channel ABP Ananda at Sera Bangali 2024, its felicitation programme, in November.

Hiya Chakravarty, a national finswimming champ

Hiya Chakravarty

Of: BJ Block

For: Winning the junior group champion’s trophy with three golds and a silver from her four events in the fourth National Finswimming Championships in New Delhi in November

Hiya has been swimming at the Bidhannagar Municipal Sports Academy pool, opposite Mayukh Bhavan, since Class I but when she resumed classes after the pandemic last year, her coach, Jayanta Dey, asked her to try finswimming.

This little-known sport requires the swimmer to wear fins – either a monofin that attaches to both legs or two separate fins for each leg. “We also wear a snorkel to breathe underwater without having to lift our heads,” explains the Class VIII student of Salt Lake School.

“The fins increase our speed, but we must exert much more strength to use them,” says Hiya, who won a couple of medals using bifins at the national tournament last year but switched to a monofin this time.

“People think Bengal isn’t good at sports, but perhaps that’s because many sports are expensive and restrict entry to those who can afford them,” she says, adding that the starting price of her monofin is Rs 30,000 and that too has to be imported. “Other states sent 35-50 swimmers this time, but we sent 80-90. We were winning all the podium spots, and even fourth place in some events. And we won the overall state award.”

Hiya continues practising even in winter to maintain form. She is now working to reduce her timings to qualify for international level. One of her events – the 50m apnea – requires her to swim the entire race in one breath. “I complete this event in 25 seconds now, but I’m working to improve my time,” says the teenager who also holds a purple belt in taekwondo.

Tripti and Arup Sunder Pal

Of: CB Block

For: Tripti won two golds and Arup a silver and bronze in the 55-65 year age group category at the National Finswimming Championships in New Delhi last month

This elderly couple from CB Block began learning swimming just a few years ago. “I had left my teaching job in 2016 and turned to swimming to stay occupied,” says Tripti. “It was my first time in the water.”

Seeing her enjoying the classes, Tripti’s husband Arup also hit the Bidhannagar Municipal Sports Academy pool, opposite Mayukh Bhavan, in 2017. “While we learnt regular swimming, we would see youths using fins – they looked beautiful and fun – and would long to try them out too but we assumed options were limited for people of our age,” says Arup, 61. Tripti is 60.

But in 2024, the National Finswimming Championships introduced a category for their age group and coach Jayanta Dey asked them to give it a shot.

“I managed to use the snorkel perfectly in my first attempt, much to my coach’s delight,” says Tripti. “As for the fins, I felt I had got wings! At our age, we cannot expect the muscle strength or flexibility of teenagers but the fins were helping us move so much faster!” says Tripti, who also won silver in the 50m backstroke at the National Masters Championship in Nashik this October.

Tripti and Arup Sunder Pal show their finswimming medals

The finswimmers had a qualifier in Serampore, clearing which they headed to Delhi. “Our category did not have too many participants but this was only its first year. The cost of the fins and specialised coaching may have been a barrier too,” says Arup, who also served as secretary of CB Block last year. “But I dare say we’ve become trendsetters. Upon our return to the Salt Lake pool, many others in our age group have expressed interest to compete in such events.”

While Arup has been keen on sports all his life, Tripti’s only on-field experience was a spoon-and-marble race in fourth grade. “But it’s never too late, is it? If tournaments have rounds for senior citizens, our enthusiasm will rub off on the rest of the society,” she says.

DEVANSH BOSE

Of: CD Block

For: Winning bronze in the under14 category Commonwealth Karate Championship in Durban, South Africa in December.

Devansh has been learning karate since he was in Class II and his chosen style is kumite. “‘Kata is shadow fighting but kumite is a contact sport that has you sparring against opponents. Less people opt for kumite but I find it more exciting,” says the Class VIII student of DPS Newtown.

Of the seven karatekas from Bengal competing in South Africa, Devansh was the only one to win a medal for kumite. Once Devansh was selected for the India team, his BD Block-based coach, Premjit Sen, had him training for six hours a day.

In Durban, the opponent Devansh was most wary about was a South African who had several titles under his belt but the CD Block youth beat him in a knock-out. “A karate knockout means a score of 6-0,” said the 13-year-old.

“My next opponents were from Australia and African countries, with one of them being 6ft tall. But this tournament has taught me to trust and follow my hanshi (literally, teacher of teachers) completely,” says Devansh, who incidentally, also won the Silver Award from The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2023, results for which were announced this year.

“I had written about a Bengali boy finding common connections with strangers through a story of Durga in the Samoan Islands, near Australia,” says Devansh.

A fan of action heroes like Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Russian mixed martial artiste (MMA) Khabib, Devansh showcased his skills at his school’s sports day programme last week by breaking tiles.