Tokyo Olympics: Know Your Olympian – Saurabh Chaudhary, 10m Air Pistol
A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Kalina, Saurabh Chaudhary was born into a family of farmers. He took to shooting at the tender age of 14. He used to travel 15 kilometres from his village every day for training.
Owning a pistol was a luxury back then for the young prodigy and his family bought the equipment by taking a loan. A shooting range was set up in the backyard so Abhishek could practice at home.
The rewards for his hard work came soon enough.
He won three gold medals and set a junior world record at the ISSF Junior World Cup in 2018. Later that year, Saurabh defeated the senior participants in the 2018 Asian Games by winning gold in the individual 10m Air Pistol event. He became the youngest and the fifth Indian shooter to win an Asian Games gold medal.
Age – 19
Sports/Discipline – Shooting
Working Ranking – 2
Major Achievements
World Championships
• Bronze – Mixed Team, 2018 Changwon
• Gold – Men’s Team, 2017 Suhl
Asian Championships
• Silver – Men Team, 2019 Doha
• Bronze – Men Junior Team, 2016 Tehran
• Gold – Men Youth Team, 2017 Wako City
• Gold – Men Junior Team, 2018 Kuwait City
• Silver – Mixed Team, 2019 Doha
Youth Olympic Games
Gold – Men Youth team, 2018 Buenos Aires
World Cup
• Gold – Men Mixed team, 2019 New Delhi
• Gold – Men Mixed team, 2019 Beijing
• Gold – Men Mixed team, 2019 Munich
• Gold – Men Mixed team, 2021 New Delhi
Asian Games
Gold – Men team, 2018 Jakarta
Tokyo Olympics Qualification
Saurabh is one India’s top hopes for a medal, especially given his performance in Croatia. The pistol shooter partnered with Manu Bhaker to bag a silver in the mixed team event in his last event. The duo has won multiple ISSF World Cup gold medals since 2019. The Meerut-born shooter has qualified for the World Cup final every time in the last couple of years.
Recent Performances
Saurabh won gold, silver, and bronze at the ISSF World Shooting Championships. He bagged another gold at the Argentina Youth Olympics. In 2019, he got India off the mark with a gold in the men’s 10m Air Pistol at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi. He clinched the bronze in men’s 10m air pistol at the shooting World Cup in Osijek.