Saurabh Chaudhary's golden run continues, shoots world record in 10m Air Pistol at Junior World Championship

Saurabh Chaudhary on Thursday shot a world record (junior) of 245.5 points to win a Gold medal in Men’s 10m Air Pistol final at the World Junior Championship. Fellow countryman Arjun Singh Cheema won the Bronze medal in the same discipline. 

The 16-year-old shooter got off to a great start to take an early lead in the final. He scored  103.0 after the first stage and saw stiff competition from Korea’s 18-year-old Hojin Lim, who scored 102.1, to take the second position after the first 10 shots.

Saurabh surged ahead with a 9.8 and 10.5 (143.9) to take a 3.1-point lead over the Korean counterpart after the first two rounds of elimination. Saurabh continued to shoot consistently as he scored 225.0 in the penultimate stage to secure a competitive 2.6-point lead over Lim (222.4). 

The Asian Games gold medalist hit a junior world record with stunning shots of 10.6 and 9.9 to seal the yellow metal. Hojin Lim had to settle with the silver medal with a 2.4-point deficit despite a perfect round (10.0, 10.7) in the final stage.  

Arjun Singh Cheema, 17, finished with a score of 218.0 to ensure another podium finish for India. 

Saurabh Chaudhary, in partnership with 19-year-old Ashok Abhidnya, had also won a bronze medal (407.3) in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Junior in the Junior championship.