It was intriguing how Saurabh Chaudhary, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist shooter, went missing from the grid for nearly three years. Saurabh was the youngest Indian shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games and followed it up with eight medals in 2019 across five World Cups. He then won five World Cup medals in 2021, one in 2022 in Cairo, but then he slipped into obscurity. Away from the spotlight, Saurabh put his head down, and after almost three years in the wilderness, he has won three medals across two World Cups within two weeks, bringing home one gold and two bronze medals. 2025 began on a high. Saurabh returned to shooting three months back, setting a national record in the 10m men’s air pistol shooting with a score of 591, winning the national selection trials and finding a place in the Indian squad. “It wasn’t a big issue. It was just that my ranking was a little low. My score was a little low. Then I focused on my practice. After that, I am slowly improving,” Saurabh told News18 in an exclusive conversation. Saurabh did not make the first 10m air pistol World Cup final in Buenos Aires, but won a mixed team bronze with Suruchi Phogat, the rising sensation of Indian shooting. Suruchi won three gold medals and one bronze medal in the two World Cups. Asked about the youngster, Saurabh says, “It was very good. It was our first time as a team in the World Cup. We do our things. She plays her own game, I play mine. She played very well. So, our results were very good in both the World Cups.” The bronze medal win in Buenos Aires with Suruchi seemed to have done the trick as Saurabh made the final in Lima and won an individual bronze, which was worth a lot for his confidence. Saurabh followed it with a gold medal with Suruchi to make it three medals from the Latin American leg of the ISSF World Cup. Saurabh was once a regular partner of Manu Bhaker, who bagged two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics last year. When asked about the Olympic history maker, Saurabh lauded his erstwhile partner’s success. “She is very hardworking. I have seen that. She does everything with a lot of focus. I felt that if she is determined to do something, she will do it,” Saurabh said.