PUNE: More one hears about Saurabh Chaudhary’s preparations for the Tokyo Games, the stronger the expectations of a medal from him grow. The Kalina boy, who has had a dream run since making his seniors debut two years ago, is India’s biggest hope of winning a medal at Tokyo.
And to make sure there are no obstacles on his way to give his best in Tokyo, the Youth Olympic gold medallist has put everything in order.
The World No. 2 10m air pistol shooter is a vegetarian and had problems with food during his stay in Asian countries, where vegetarian food is difficult to find.
“He has problems even with the smell of seafood, and he couldn’t eat anything during his trip to Taoyuan in Chinese Taipei for the Asian Airgun meet in 2019. He didn’t want to take a chance this time so he had got some food from home,” Saurabh’s elder brother Nitin told TOI.
“Since there was an Indian restaurant in Zagreb, he didn’t have any problem, but he has taken home-made laddoos and gud (jaggery) along with other things, so that he doesn’t have to put his energy into finding food in Tokyo,” Nitin said.
It is not just food, Saurabh has also kept himself away from other distractions. He has never been active on social media platforms and his accounts are managed by the marketing agencies. But since reaching Zagreb, he has also stopped using mobile phone completely.
“We call coach Samaresh Jung every 3-4 days to talk with him. He doesn’t keep his phone on and there is nothing that is so urgent that he needs the phone with him all the time. His focus is only on his training and nothing else,” Nitin said.
