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I don’t promote sport, but give advise when asked, says Samaresh Jung
49-year-old former shooter and national coach wins gold in men 25 metre Standard Pistol at the ongoing police games at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi on Tuesday.
Pune: The presence of national coach Samaresh Jung at the 13th All India Police Shooting Sports Championship caught the attention of participants. Representing the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) teams as coach and player, Jung grabbed gold (score 562-16x) in the 25 metre Standard Pistol men’s qualifying round.
The 49-year-old former shooter was seen giving tips to Mahesh Hire, one of the players representing Maharashtra in the ongoing police games at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi on Tuesday.
When complemented by Hire for his good score at the police event, the former national shooter said, “This score in a national championship would have meant nothing. You see my name on top here because the police personnel did not perform well.”
Jung’s advice to Hire, who was following his idol’s performance since yesterday (Monday) — “Practice more and focus on your shots instead of time.”
“I don’t visit places to promote the sport, but am always open to give advice when asked. I don’t know him (Hire), but his dedication can go a long way in achieving success,” said Jung.
Jung admits he is still learning the art of teaching after he became a coach in 2018.
“As a shooter I knew what I have to do, but I am learning how to explain and describe the sport to top Indian shooters. Having a foreign coach in the national side helps as he brings in a lot of experience,” said Jung.
The national coach is happy with the broad base of young shooters and gives credit to National Rifle Association of India and government for making changes in the Arms Act, 1959.
“We have great talent coming and they are shooting good scores. Now importing a gun is not as difficult as it was when I started. Changes in Arms Act rules for sports shooting have helped many youngsters take up shooting as profession and we have broad base of young shooters like China used to have earlier.”
“When I took up shooting as a sport, the rule was that only the top eight shooters in open category in nationals could import weapons. I used to say ‘mere pass gun nahi hai toh mai kya guller chal kar jeetunga? (when I do not have a gun, will I win a competition with a slingshot?) ’. I was lucky to get a gun during that time. Later, the number was increased to 25 shooters. The present rule is whoever plays nationals and qualifies for the next year nationals can import gun.” Jung said.
Olympics medal
National coach Samaresh Jung is confident that Indian shooters will perform well at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
“All the players have capabilities to win medals as they have earned it by shooting good scores at world-level events,” Jung said.
