LUCKNOW: As a gesture of appreciation and to promote sportspersons in the state, UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh and a government job for the 16-year-old ace shooter from Meerut, Saurabh Chaudhary who bagged a gold medal in 10-metre air pistol shooting event at the Asian Games in Jakarta. The chief minister also announced cash reward or Rs 20 lakh for Ravi Kumar, who won bronze medal in 10-m air rifle mixed team event.
Having beaten Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan, Chaudhary not only won a gold but also set an Asian Games record with a score of 240.7 points. He beat his rival in the final two shots to clinch the gold medal.
CM Yogi Adityanath congratulated Chaudhary for bringing laurels to Uttar Pradesh and making the state proud. Saurabh Chaudhary, 16, is the youngest Indian shooter to have bagged a Gold for India. Earlier, it was Jaspal Rana, then 17, at the 1994 Games in Hiroshima in the 25m centre pistol. Not just that, this is the 16-year-old's first senior tournament ever.
Expectations were high from Chaudhary, son of a farmer based in Kalina village in Meerut, as he had broken the world record on way to winning a gold in the Junior World Cup in Germany a couple of months back. Chaudhary is drawing appreciation and accolades from all including President of India,
Ram Nath Kovind, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports and MoS for Information & Broadcasting, and Olympic silver medallist, Rajavardhan Singh Rathore also tweeted in praise of Saurabh.
Meanwhile, back at home, Chaudhary's village is basking in the glory of his achievement. Sharing the days of his coaching and rigorous hours of practice, Suarabh's father Jagmohan and elder brother Nitin reveal that the young shooter never understood the language of his coach who was a European. "He used to follow his instruction by reading his expressions," says the proud father. "But language never became a barrier and Saurabh focused on his coaching by observing the expressions of his coach avidly and brought sheen to his talent at Karni Singh shooting range in New Delhi," says Nitin, Saurabh's elder brother.
A student of Class X, Saurabh started shooting as a hobby and was spotted by a coach who summoned him to Binauli shooting range and he started his training in April 2015.
(with inputs from PTI)