New Delhi: Renowned Indian shooting coach Jaspal Rana has stressed on saving the future of waning Saurabh Chaudhary, who once dominated the men’s 10m air pistol competition not just in the national arena but also at the international stage.
With nine World Cup gold medals, a World Championship title, gold medal at 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta with a Games record of 240.7, and a Youth Olympic gold medal at the age of 16, the shooter from Meerut was destined to establish a legacy in the Indian shooting circuit. However, his charisma has faded away ever since the disappointment of Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
The 22-year-old shooter Saurabh Chaudhary is enduring a lean patch with his last major success being the gold medal in the ISSF World Cup in Cairo in March 2022. He has failed to make to the Indian teams for the World Championships, Asian Games and Paris Olympics. In December 2023, Chaudhary was ranked 35th out of 56 shooters in the provisional rankings of 10m air pistol under the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Manu and coach Jaspal Rana appeals for support to Saurabh Chaudhary
Manu Bhaker, the double-Olympic bronze medal winner at the recent Paris Games, remarked that Saurabh should have been in the mixed team event alongside her.
“Honestly, he (Saurabh Chaudhary) is the best shooter I have seen in my career. Nobody, not even a foreign shooter, comes close. He is the finest one I have seen in my life. We don’t quite know what happened… whether he lost interest or it was something else,” Manu told Hindustan Times.
“But it is our responsibility to give him the opportunity if he still wants to shoot and to motivate him to get back to his true calibre. I really felt for him in the mixed event and thought, ‘he should have been here’,” she added.
Reacting to the interview on his official X handle (formerly known as Twitter), Manu’s coach Jaspal Rana wrote:
‘Yes @SChaudhary2002 is on(e) of (the) finest shooter. We have to protect him at any cost’. Rana also tagged the X handles of PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, NRAI, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra among many others.
Renowned Indian shooting coach Jaspal Rana has stressed on saving the future of waning Saurabh Chaudhary, who once dominated the men’s 10m air pistol competition not just in the national arena but also at the international stage. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
