Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold in National Shooting Championship

World No.1, Youth Olympics champion and Asian Games gold medallist, Saurabh Chaudhary asserted his class yet again as he won the men’s gold in 10-metre air pistol.

Men's air pistol medallists in the National shooting championship in Bhopal. From left: Sarabjot Singh, champion Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma.

World No.1, Youth Olympics champion and Asian Games gold medallist, 17-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary asserted his class yet again as he won the men’s gold in 10-metre air pistol in the 63rd National shooting championship which concluded on Saturday. After having topped qualification with 583, Saurabh shot 246.4 in the final to beat Sarabjot Singh by 2.5 points. Saurabh’s final score was 0.1 point behind the world record set by Kim Song Guk in the Asian Championship in Doha, Qatar, in November. In a strong field of 728 shooters, it was a commendable fare by Saurabh who had dominated the season by winning two individual gold medals in the World Cups, apart from sweeping all the four gold medals in the mixed air pistol with Manu Bhaker.

READ | Govt approves IOA's proposal to host Commonwealth shooting in India Sarabjot Singh won the silver ahead of Abhishek Verma who had also won two gold medals in the World Cups this season. Sarabjot went on to win the junior gold by beating Boby Kaushik by 1.1 point, while the qualification topper Shiva Narwal had to be content with the bronze. The 13-year-old Shiva Narwal won the sub-youth gold, with his score of 583, as there was no final in the event. Sharvan Kumar shot a modest 575 in qualification but clinched the youth gold, half a point ahead of Shiva Narwal, with a score of 242.7. This was some achievement, as the youth field had 1307 shooters, and 1256 managed to complete competition. Haryana swept all the team gold medals.  

The results: 10m air pistol: Men: 1. Saurabh Chaudhary 246.4 (583); 2. Sarabjot Singh 243.9 (580); 3. Abhishek Verma 221.1 (581). Team: 1. Haryana 1734; 2. Army Marksmanship Unit 1733; 3. Uttar Pradesh 1730. Juniors: 1. Sarabjot Singh 243.3 (580); 2. Boby Kaushik 242.2 (582); 3. Shiva Narwal 222.3 (583). Team: 1. Haryana 1727; 2. Uttar Pradesh 1716; 3. Army Marksmanship Unit 1707. Youth: 1. Sharvan Kumar 242.7 (575); 2. Shiva Narwal 242.2 (583); 3. Naveen 220.3 (577). Team: 1. Haryana 1717; 2. Uttar Pradesh 1709; 3. Delhi 1704. Sub-youth: 1. Shiva Narwal 583; 2. Lucky 575; 3. Mukesh Nelavalli 571.