'Where are the coaches who took credit for Saurabh Chaudhary?' asks Jaspal Rana

Saurabh Chaudhary, the 21-year-old former darling of Indian Shooting, has fallen by the wayside because of the unwillingness of the national shooting federation and some coaches to reach out to the reigning Asian Games champion in his hour of need, said former gold medallist Jaspal Rana.

Chaudhary had shattered the world record on way to a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, but after a disappointing performance at the Tokyo Olympics, has almost faded into oblivion. He is not part of the Indian team for the upcoming Asian Games, set to begin in Hangzhou, China on September 23.

“When he was winning medals everywhere, everyone was trying to get close to him and take credit for his success. It seemed like he had many coaches at that point in time, but my question is, where are those coaches now," Jaspal Rana told PTI during an interaction.

Jaspal Rana, who is currently the personal coach of national team's pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, said he had expected Saurabh to make a comeback because of his mental disposition.

“Taking into consideration his calm and composed nature, his personality, and most important, his talent, I thought that he is someone who would be able to manage the difficult phase and wriggle out of it. But then, he must have got confused (because of advice from various coaches), and that did not help, probably,” he said.

Asked if he would consider coaching Saurabh himself, Rana said that the shooter needs to reach out to him as he does not want to impose.