Meerut: The celebrations have not stopped at 16-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary’s house in Meerut’s Kalina village after he bettered his own record by becoming the junior World Champion at the ISSF World Champioships in Changown, South Korea, on Thursday. He clinched a gold in junior men’s 10 m air pistol event by scoring 245.5, which is 2.4 points above the senior record of 243.6 points and his own record junior world record of 243.7.“We are awaiting his return home after his game so that all of us can shower our love on him – which we are unable to express right now. If he is unable to come home right away because he has to go for Youth Olympics camp, then we will go and meet him in Delhi,” said Nitin Chaudhary, Saurabh’s older brother.A student of class X, Saurabh is the youngest among his three siblings. His father Jagmohan Singh is a sugarcane farmer and mother Brijesh Devi, a homemaker.Going from strength to strength, Saurabh had made history at the recently concluded Asian Games when he became the youngest individual gold medalist. He also won a bronze in the junior 10m air pistol mixed team event along with Abhidnya Patil to tally 407.3 points in the finals at the World Championship in South Korea.“In the mixed team category, the responsibility of getting a good score gets divided and hence, he won a bronze in that category. But I am absolutely ecstatic about his gold medal in the individual category on Thursday. He has broken not just his own record but also surpassed the senior record by 2.4 points. It is going to be next to a festival when he is back,” said Saurabh’s coach, Amit Sheoran.According to Nitin, Saurabh started with plastic guns as a child and graduated to bursting balloons by using guns at local fairs. By April 2015, he started learning shooting at Veer Shahmal Rifle Club in Baghpat’s Binoli village. He was only 13 years old then but used to practice for long spells, sometimes even 10 hours a day.“During the initial days, he used my gun for shooting. He had the skills to become a world class shooter. I remember that even at that age, he was very calm and patient. He will now be aiming for a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said coach Sheoran, whose phone would not stop ringing with congratulatory calls till late in the evening.

Stay updated with all the Meerut Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.