New Delhi It was 2019, and the India team was in the hunt for a fresh talent to replicate the stupendous success of Saurabh Chaudhary at the world junior level. Saurabh – a rare talent to emerge in Indian pistol shooting – had swept the field at the Youth Olympics, World Junior Championships and ISSF Junior World Cups.

Saurabh was so good that he stamped his class at the senior international level as well in the same period (2018-19). With the Tokyo Olympics in sight, Saurabh was fast-tracked into the senior side to shoot for India’s Olympic quota. The big question was: who would replace him in the junior team and extend his hot streak? That task fell on the shoulders of Sarabjot Singh – a young shooter from Ambala.

In his first junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany in 2019, a nervous Sarabjot just about made it to the final at eighth place, and then shot the gold medal with calmness, much to the surprise and relief of the India coaches. His journey had begun.

More proof of his talent came when he won medals at the World Junior Championships in Lima in 2021 in men’s team and mixed team events – with Manu Bhaker. On Tuesday at the Paris Olympics, it was the same pair of Sarabjot and Manu that held their nerves to win a tense bronze playoff 16-10 against South Korea’s Lee Won-ho and Oh Ye-jin for India’s second medal of the Games.

For 22-year-old Sarabjot, reduced to tears on Day 1 after missing out on forcing a shootoff for a spot in the 10m air pistol final due to fewer inner 10s, Tuesday’s medal came as a quick redemption.

“It feels great. It was tough, but we were glad we could do it. There was a lot of pressure but the crowd kept backing us,” Sarabjot said.

For India’s mixed teams – a highly unpredictable format – it could be the start of something special. In Tokyo three years ago, India’s highly rated mixed pair of Manu and Saurabh faltered. The then teenagers in their first Games had dominated the World Cups in the build-up. Such was the hype that when they failed to qualify for the final, it hit the Indian shooting contingent like a bullet. All hell broke loose. The Games was still young -- only the third day of competitions and several shooting events were to be played – but the Indian camp went into mourning.

A bitter blame game started in Tokyo. Controversies surfaced, allegations and counter allegations were flung. The two-month long camp in Croatia – forced due to the second wave of Covid – and the decision to compete in the Munich World Cup close to Tokyo, everything was dissected in the heat of the moment. Manu’s fallout with coach Jaspal Rana too openly played out.

Three years since that disturbing day on the Tokyo ranges, Manu spectacularly redeemed herself by becoming the first Indian to win more than one medal in a single Olympics since Independence. She has a chance to grab a third in the 25m sports pistol. Her partner who helped achieve the medal, Sarabjot, has often slipped into the shoes of Saurabh Chaudhary from his junior days. All three were part of the federation’s (NRAI) junior development programme that was started in 2012 and has played a key role in grooming talent.

“I remember the first time Sarabjot was picked for the junior India team in Suhl, he was nervous. But once he qualified for the final, he was calm and did his job much like what Saurabh used to do for the Indian team. We were pleasantly surprised,” said coach Deepak Kumar Dubey, who travels with India’s junior teams and was part of the junior development programme.

When India returned without a medal from Tokyo, there was a hunt for fresh talent. Sarabjot stepped up again. At the 2021 National Championships at the Karni Singh range – the first one after Tokyo – he confidently trumped the field, which included Saurabh, in the final. He had lost to Saurabh the previous time. Both are 22 but Sarabjot spoke about beating Saurabh with reverence, as if he had achieved the biggest medal of his career.

“It is such a tough competition at home with Saurabh and Abhishek bhaiya (Verma) around. I will prepare for the Asian Games and my goal would be the Paris Olympics,” the soft-spoken Sarabjot had said.

He put himself on track by winning gold at the Bhopal World Cup last year but then struggled with a shoulder injury – it almost cost him selection for the Asian Games. Doctors diagnosed it as shoulder impingement due to excessive shooting and told him to take a break. Sarabjot didn’t pick his pistol for three months. When he came back, he still felt pain while holding the pistol. He tested himself at the Khelo India Games and won the mixed team gold with Manu as partner, representing Panjab University.

Sarabjot emerged strongly from the injury and earned his place in the Asian Games team, going on to win the team gold, and mixed team silver with TS Divya – they lost to China’s Zhang Bowen and Jiang Ranxin in a close final.

Approaching Paris, he peaked well and won the Munich World Cup last month. Though he missed out on individual qualification by a whisker, by winning the mixed team medal Sarabjot and Manu have helped make amends for the trauma since Tokyo.

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