Sir — Kudos to 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary, who is competing in his first senior event in the 10m air pistol finals. He has showed maturity well beyond his age to became only the fifth Indian shooter (after Jaspal Rana, Randhir Singh, Jitu Rai and Ronjan Sodhi even beat them at age), not only to claim a gold in the Asian Games history, but to snatch the lead from 2010 World Champion Tomoyuki Matsuda on the penultimate shot (aggregated 240.7) in the 24-shot final.
It’s inspiring to see how Saurabh’s (a student of class XI, who like farming and help his father if he gets time) will power helped him to take interest in such a sport like rifle shooting.
Saurabh’s success also clearly indicated that there are no shortages of brilliant sportspersons in India but due to poverty, and lack of world-class equipment and facilities, they are left far behind.
That said, one can only hope that the struggling sports scene in the country changes in the coming years. I hope that Saurabh Chaudhary’s performance inspires others to grab more medals and make us more proud at the Asian Games 2018 in Palembang.