Muristek
Vinayak Padmadeo
New Delhi, April 4
Saurabh Chaudhary is straightforward when he says he keeps away from the media spotlight. True to his words, the young shooter, who has been winning medals in the last four years as a junior and senior India international, has had a habit of not opening up during media interactions. However, the 19-year-old got over this 'inconvenience' and spoke to The Tribune about several things including switching his coach and the Tokyo Olympics. Excerpts:
Are you over your Olympics disappointment?
I am doing the same things I was doing last year. There is no change in my training or anything else. I am currently training at my home range (after the selection trials) with the idea to perform for the upcoming tournaments.
So, you are saying you were not disappointed with the results?
All I am saying is I did well. My performance was all right. It (not winning) did not affect me at all. I have always focused on the right way to train and approach tournaments. The Olympics are a big event and I would like to believe I did okay there.
Saurabh as a shooter you have always talked about someone who is reserved, hardly talks to the media. Why is that?
I just want to concentrate on my things. Training well and trying to improve my performance is the only thing important to me.
What about all the talks about you staying away from teammates only Abhishek Verma, it is said, was close to you in the team. Your comments?
It is wrong to think that I do not have friends or I do not talk to teammates. Other than Abhishek bhaiyya, I have several friends on the team. In fact, our team will change after the trials; those coming in the side are also known to me.
You stumped Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the athletes' interaction before the Tokyo Games. How did that happen?
It was not planned or anything (laughs). He asked me what I do to stay calm as shooting is very challenging. So I thought he was our PM and had a bigger responsibility and I asked 'please tell us how you manage to keep calm'? He didn't answer but it is understood as he had to speak to other athletes.
We have been told that you wake up too early and perform puja before starting the training. Is it true?
It is not like that. It is like how people start a good thing by remembering the Gods. I do the same. Anyway, I wake up early to do yoga and my exercise and I start shooting with a prayer.
We know you like to stay away from the limelight but how do you react to controversies? You changed your coach and it made headlines. Does something like that affect you?
My current coach is Samresh (Jung) sir. Things change and we can only concentrate on going forward. I do not look at media reports at all.