Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar has been associated with
THE TEENAGER TODAY for more than 50 years; initially as a
reader and later as a contributor on varied topics.
Having worked in the Indian Air Force and subsequently
in India’s oldest company, Forbes & Company Limited,
he has now decided to follow the legal profession.loaded with .177/4.5 mm calibre pellets. For the 25m
and 50m Pistol events, athletes use pistol loaded with
.22/5.6 mm calibre shots. It follows as a consequence
that the 10m pistols are lighter to handle and thus
form the more convenient equipment for youngsters to
handle.
The year 2016 saw Saurabh come into the
international limelight when he won a silver medal
in the junior category 10m pistol event at the Asian
Airgun Championship, at Tehran and also a gold as a
member of the Indian junior team in the same event.
Saurabh has progressed with time and it has been a
gold medal for him ever since, each year from 2017 to
2019.
Saurabh created a flutter when he won the gold
medal at the 2018 Asian Games to become the
youngest-ever Indian to win a gold medal at the
Games. After the Asian Games, it was another gold
medal for him at the Junior ISSF World Championship.
He followed it up with yet another gold medal at
the Youth Olympic Games 2018, in Argentina. In the
2018 Asian Airgun Championship he won three gold
medals; the individual, the team and the mixed team.
He is the only Indian shooter to win gold medals in
the Youth Olympic, Asian Games, Junior ISSF World
Championship, ISSF World Cup and Asian Airgun
Championship.
The year 2019 has definitely established Saurabh as
the best 10m pistol shooter in the world. In February
2019, he won the gold medal at 2019 ISSF World Cup in
Delhi. In April 2019, he participated in the mixed team
10m pistol event at the ISSF World Cup, in Beijing with
Manu Bhaker and won the gold medal and now yet
another gold medal at the ISSF World Cup, in Munich.
Saurabh Chaudhary is to 10m pistol shooting what
MS Dhoni is to limited over cricket; a great finisher and
Saurabh’s coach attributes his
pupil’s success to this very great
quality in this youngster. Perhaps,
both Dhoni and Saurabh have
one quality in common; a cool
temperament when it matters most
in finishing a contest. However,
beyond this, comparison between
the two should end for while
Dhoni is 37 years in age, Saurabh
is just 17. However, Saurabh’s
cool character needs no further
testimony as at Delhi, all his last six
shots were 10.1 and above, while
at Munich, his last two shots were
10.3 and 10.6 to create a new world
record at 246.3 points.Saurabh Chaudhary, therefore, remains one of India’s
best bets to bring home a gold medal from the 2020
Tokyo Olympic Games. However, many a pistol shooter
in the past has had to suffer a disappointment when their
pistols have malfunctioned at the most crucial juncture.
So while the youngster has the requisite talent, let us
pray and hope that his pistol continues to fire as well as
ever before, in Tokyo.