If we take an average of most of us at 16 - What were we up to? Maybe, daydreaming about our crush? Hanging out with friends to create memories, or possibly, running behind marks to get admission to a good college?
Alright! However, if you take the case of Saurabh Chaudhary, who hails from Meerut, you might get astonished to look at what this 16-year-old is up to. Saurabh has achieved remarkable feats at a tender age of 16 defying all the burdens coming his way. The merit goes to his dedication, consistency and the will to win.
THE ROOTS :
Saurabh commenced his Shooting practice in 2015. He was coached by Mr. Amit Sheoran in his academy. Amit Sheoran’s academy was located 53kms away from the central city of Meerut, in Benoli. As he began his journey, it took no time for the selectors to spot the fresh talent. He made his ISSF debut in Asian Championships at Tehran in 2016. Then, as time progressed, in 2017 he left his first mark in the history of shooting. Chaudhary won the gold medal in the Asian Airgun Championships in the youth category. Following his first special victory, he clinched a similar win in the same year. He came first at the KSS Shooting Championship. The journey seemed to have begun for a young man with a gun in his hand who is on a quest to shoot down all the odds. Fast forward, the boy started to catch big eyes globally. At the ISSF Junior World Cup, Saurabh made a world record in the 10m air pistol junior category by scoring 243.7. The earlier record of 242.5 points was rejoiced by Wang Zhao from China.
THE HISTORIC SUCCESS & OLYMPICS TICKET :
The 11th-grade student and the son of a farmer from the Kalina Village created history at Jakarta in 2018. The entire village of Kalina consists of fewer than 4000 people. It is intriguing to understand how a boy from a small village came all the way to defy the odds to clinch a Gold. That too in a platform like the Asian Games at a minor age of 16. Saurabh nailed the gold medal in Men’s 10m Air Pistol category. He was accompanied by his country mate Abhishek Verma who took the bronze medal. Another fascinating part of the story is that the teenager debutant whipped past a pool of Olympic and World Championship medal winners in the senior men’s shooting category to win the honorable gold. He defeated World Champion, Tomoyuki Matsuda, in the final of the 10m air pistol event. Following his historic achievement, he also went on to win the Gold at the Youth Olympics in October 2018. He shot 244.2 and went ahead of Sung Yunho from Korea and Solari Jason from Switzerland. Their scorings were 236.7 and 215.6 points respectively. The series of memorable victories bought the ticket for him in Tokyo. Saurabh got selected to be a part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in which the statistics forecast him to be well prepared to stand in the Podium again.
AFFECTIONS & HONOURS:
Saurabh claims his shooting idol to be Abhinav Bindra. He is the World Champion and Olympic Gold medallist in 10m Air Rifle shooting. Although, apart from sports, he is a big fan of Salman Khan and Deepika Padukone. Saurabh’s desire is to visit Paris soon as he claims it to be his dream destination. After the win, Saurabh was offered a job by the UP Government. He also got felicitated with 50 Lakh rupees after his triumphant moment at the Asian Games.
No matter what, success has not altered Saurabh. He still loves to spend time with his father at their farm, whenever he gets time to be back at home. The journey was never plain sailing for Saurabh and now the next mission is in Japan, 2020.
Sports as a leisure activity is alluring. Sports as a career is onerous. To give perspective on the previous mentioned - If you take the winning margins at the Olympics in shooting, a gold medalist and a bronze medalist are differentiated by 0.1 meters. Well, that can be compared to half a strand of your hair tip. So, if a question arises in your mind that how did this young lad did the unthinkable within a meagre span of 4 years - there’s a journey untold.
