4 min readJul 23, 2026 07:30 AM IST 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 a ISSF shooting World Cup. “Woh kahawat suni hai? ‘Khuda meharban to gadha pehelwan’, (If God is on your side, even the most incapable person can achieve greatness),” jokes Jung, trying to downplay his achievements. 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, who is now the national coach of India’s pistol programme. He went to Melbourne with 8 medals in mind. …