Joining a select few

Saurabh Chaudhary was named Best Young Athlete (Boys) at the Sportstar Aces Awards supported by Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in association with MRF.

Saurabh Chaudhary’s biggest prize of the year was his 10m air pistol gold medal at the Youth Olympics.

"I am very happy to be chosen for this award, from across sports disciplines in the country,” said Saurabh Chaudhary, on receiving the Best Young Athlete (Boys) Award at the Sportstar Aces Awards supported by Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in association with MRF. “I want to thank the jury for selecting me for this award. It is the first such award for me.”

It was not a tough choice, since the old shooter had a phenomenal 2018. He first won the 10m air pistol gold medal in the World Shooting Championships junior category in Changwon, South Korea. Then, at just 16 years of age, Chaudhary, along with Rahi Sarnobat, joined a small band of shooters — Randhir Singh, Jaspal Rana, Ronjan Sodhi and Jitu Rai — to win Asian Games individual gold medals. It helps that he has national coach Rana as a guide at his young age.

But the biggest prize of the year was his 10m air pistol gold medal at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics. Another honour was to come: his pistol was chosen for the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Chaudhary is now focused on his next goal: representing India in the Olympics and winning a gold medal at Tokyo 2020. While he wants to perform well in the World Cup and win an Olympic quota, he feels no anxiety. Chaudhary says all he has to do is to keep delivering good shots every time he lifts the pistol and the rest will come automatically.