Shooter Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold at Youth Olympics

Shooter Saurabh bags gold; paddler Archana for bronze at Youth Olympics

Buenos Aires, Oct. 10: Shooting gave India another champion in Saurabh Chaudhary, as the baby-faced marksman bossed around to claim the 10m air pistol gold at the Youth Olympics, while Archana Kamath’s stunning run in table tennis ended in the semifinals here on Wednesday.

The 16-year-old Chaudhary dominated the final, shooting 244.2 to finish on top of the podium ahead of South Korea’s Sung Yunho (236.7). Switzerland’s Solari Jason bagged the bronze with 215.6.

The Indian had a staggering 18 scores of 10 and above in the eightman finals.

Around the time Chaudhary was calling the shots at the Parque Polideportivo Roca shooting range, Kamath’s run in the table tennis competition was coming to an end. She lost in the semifinals 1-4 after valiantly trying to unravel the second seed from China, Yingsha Sun, in a tense encounter.

Archana still remained in the running for the bronze medal though, as she was to take on Romania’s Andreea Dragoman. The country’s under-18 women’s hockey team hammered Vanuatu 16-0 in its third match of the five-a-side competition.

Forward Mumtaz Khan (8th, 11th, 12th, 15th) scored four times and Chetna scored thrice (6th, 14th, 17th) to help India achieve the dominating win.

Shooting again turned out to be the most productive sport for India.

Chaudhary, an Asian Games and Junior ISSF World Championship gold medallist, also topped the qualifying with 580.

Hailing from Kalina village near Meerut, Chaudhary led from start to finish to emerge winner, a day after another 16-year-old,

Hockey women thrash Vanuatu

Manu Bhaker, won the women’s pistol event.

Despite four scores of under 10 to start with, Chaudhary managed to stay ahead and then extended his domination with scores of 10.7 10.4 10.4 and 10.0.

He continued to lead the pack as the finals entered the elimination stage.

Chaudhary led at the end of stage 1 despite shooting under 10 in four attempts. While a high 10.8 was his best in the first series, in the second series of first stage he had four scores of 10 and above, including a 10.7, which placed him way ahead of the rest of the pack.

This despite an equally impressive series of 10.0 10.7 10.2 and 10.1 by Switzerland’s Solari Jason.

An 8.5 saw the Swiss being pipped by Korea’s Sung Yunho, even as the Indian continued to produce excellent scores.

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—AP Argentina’s Delfina Narella Pignatiello holds her hand up to show a heart and the Spanish word ‘Grandmother’ as she cries while accepting her silver medal for the women’s swimming 50m freestyle at the Natatorium in Youth Olympic Park during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

—AP Saurabh Chaudhary of India looks on during the men’s 10m air pistol final at the shooting range at Tecnopolis Park during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday.