Samaresh Jung: The Indian shooter who conquered Melbourne 20 years ago
At the end of the closing ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, all eyes darted around looking for the David Dixon award winner. Conferred on the best athlete of the CWG, people wondered where Samaresh Jung was. But the shooter, who had won five gold medals, one bronze and a silver, had already flown out of the host city and was in China for an ISSF shooting World Cup.
Jung, now the national coach of India's pistol programme, reflects on his achievements with characteristic humility. "Woh kahawat suni hai? 'Khuda meharban to gadha pehelwan', (If God is on your side, even the most incapable person can achieve greatness)," he jokes. His exploits at the Commonwealth Games spanned three editions – the Indian shooter picked up a total of 14 medals from Manchester 2002, Melbourne 2006 and New Delhi 2010 – only bettered by Jaspal Rana's haul of 15. But Melbourne was the crowning moment for the former shooter.
He went to Melbourne with ambitious targets. "Journalists would ask me how many gold medals I was targeting and I'd tell them all of them, and all gold," Jung told The Indian Express from China where he is with India's pistol shooters for a World Cup. The then 35-year-old had made it known that he was going for a Games record of seven gold medals. Australian swimmers Susie O'Neill, Emma McKeon and Ian Thorpe had won six at a single edition – a record Jung attempted to break. He fell short, but was still adjudged the best athlete of Melbourne 2006. But when the time for the award came, the man called 'Goldfinger' by the volunteers at Melbourne, was already out of the country.
"I had no idea about the award. I had already left Australia at the time and was in China for the ISSF World Cup," admits Jung. "I later received a replica," he adds wryly. He remains the only Indian to have won the honour, even 20 years after his feat.
Shooting is not part of the programme at the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games, but will return to the schedule when India hosts the games in Ahmedabad in 2030.
Camaraderie
In 2006, the shooting team – comprising stalwarts like Abhinav Bindra, flag-bearer Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Jaspal Rana and Gagan Narang – was a tight-knit bunch. The churn that is a common feature of Indian shooting these days was not seen back then. The sport, revelling in Rathore's Athens silver but yet to experience the euphoria of Bindra's Beijing gold, was yet to fully wake up. Resources were not abundant, and for Melbourne, there was no big team of specialists tending to a single athlete.
"We got one psychologist who used to do group sessions. Nothing like what we have now," says Jung. He recalls the camaraderie among the Indian shooters in Melbourne. Complaints of loud music emanating from Rana's room didn't hamper the medal haul – 26 in total, 16 of them gold. "All I would do was win a medal, put the flowers in a pot and play some music. Coaches used to get angry with the noise but we had won medals, so they understood. Then it was back to participating in the next event the day after," says Jung.
At the compact Glasgow Games, shooting's absence will hurt India's medal tally. The sport accounts for 135 of the country's medals at the event, despite not being a part of Birmingham 2022, and the 2026 edition. While some of the younger shooters in India may appreciate one less competition to prepare for, Jung, who used to take part even in disciplines that were not part of the Olympics at the time, thinks differently. "Every competition you participate in, you learn something and carry that to the next competition. Even if it's Olympic or non-Olympic. But now, there is too much specialisation," he says. "At that time, we never thought of recovery. We just did what the coaches told us to do. That was good enough." The shooter-turned-coach is back in China now, this time coaching Indian shooters participating at the ISSF World Cup in Hangzhou.
