Saurabh CHAUDHARY

The efforts soon paid off in 2018, as Saurabh Chaudhary announced himself to India and the world.

The year began with three gold medals - the individual 10m air pistol, the team 10m air pistol and the mixed team 10m air pistol - at the ISSF Junior World Cup in June. He had also set new junior world records en route to victory.

A couple of months later, Saurabh Chaudhary shot to fame as he won the gold in the individual 10m air pistol event at the 2018 Asian Games, beating older opponents, Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsuda and compatriot Abhishek Verma.

It made him the youngest Indian shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games and also the fifth Indian shooter to win an Asian Games gold, a list which includes current national pistol coach Jaspal Rana.`

Three more medals - a gold, silver and bronze - followed at the ISSF World Shooting Championships. Saurabh Chaudhary then rounded off a successful year with yet another gold medal, this time at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was only 16.

In his first taste of senior competition in 2019, Saurabh Chaudhary began the year with a gold medal, shooting a world record 245 in the men’s 10m air pistol final at the New Delhi ISSF World Cup and secured a quota place for the Tokyo Olympics.

His successful partnership with fellow teenager Manu Bhaker also began here, as the duo won gold together in the mixed team event. The pair of them would go on to dominate the mixed team events at the three other ISSF World Cups, winning gold at all of them while also winning silver in the 2019 ISSF World Cup final.

In the individual 10m air pistol events at the 2019 ISSF Shooting World Cups, Saurabh Chaudhary won one more gold and a bronze. He also won the national championships in 2020.

At the 2021 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, Saurabh Chaudhary continued his excellent run, winning gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team and men’s team events, while ending with silver in the individual event.

At Tokyo 2020, Saurabh Chaudhary had an underwhelming campaign. He started strong, topping the 10m air pistol qualification but fizzled out in the final to finish seventh out of the eight shooters.

It was a similar story in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. Paired with Manu Bhaker, the duo topped qualification stage 1 but failed to make the medal rounds after stage 2.

Since his Tokyo venture, Saurabh Chaudhary has won a gold medal at the 2022 Cairo ISSF World Cup and several medals at junior World Cups. However, the young pistol shooter has struggled with his consistency, which has kept him out of the core Indian team for large chunks.