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ISSF Worlds: Saurabh Chaudhary in 50m gold medal winning team, Ravinder takes silver
Saurabh may have fallen behind in his pet 10m air pistol discipline, but he continues to keep his competitive juices flowing in the 50m pistol event
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New Delhi: Saurabh Chaudhary may not be part of the national team in the 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Championships in Doha, but he made the squad in 50m pistol — a non-Olympic event — and will also return with a team gold medal.
The multiple ISSF World Cup gold medallist in 10m air pistol may have fallen behind in his pet discipline, but he continues to keep his competitive juices flowing in the 50m pistol event. Saurabh combined with Ravinder Singh, a seasoned 50m shooter, and Amanpreet Singh to win the team gold medal and give India a strong start at the Doha World Championships.
Ravinder, who was the world champion in 50m pistol at the last edition in Cairo, fought hard to defend his title but clinched the silver medal this time. He scored 559-11x and gave a tough fight to Russia’s Anton Aristarkhov, who won gold with a score of 561-9x in the 60-shot competition. Luca Joldea of Romania took the bronze with 558-5x.
"The best wishes of fans have helped us win this medal. There is always pressure in any international competition be it World Championships, Asian Games or Olympics but as a shooter we have give our best in that situation," Saurabh said in a social media post.
Ravinder, who won individual silver, said "we have to follow the process in any situation, no much how big is the pressure, and we are happy to win the team gold medal today."
Saurabh finished 11th overall among 41 shooters with a score of 551-7x, while Amanpreet Singh was 19th with 549. However, with a combined score of 1659-24x, the trio topped the podium to win gold, leaving China (Zhang Bingchen, Lyu Junyi and Feng Linlang) with silver at 1648-26x and the Republic of Korea with bronze at 1643-26x.
In 10m air pistol, Saurabh, the Tokyo Olympic finalist, made a comeback to the national team last year and won a couple of World Cup medals. He won bronze at the Lima World Cup and partnered Suruchi Phogat to clinch mixed team bronze in Buenos Aires.
While the 10m air pistol is an indoor event that uses pellets, the 50m event uses .22-calibre cartridges and tests a shooter’s precision and ability to deal with changing weather conditions. Even though he is not part of the team in 10m air pistol, the 50m event keeps him going. He participates in both events in domestic competitions and also has a senior national gold in the event. At the 2026 Asian Championships in New Delhi, Saurabh won an individual gold medal with a score of 563, which helped him through the season and enabled him to finish among the top three in the rankings. The team gold medal will boost his confidence ahead of a new season and the Senior National Championships this year.
