Jaspal Rana, the Asian Games gold medallist shooter who later guided Manu Bhaker to her historic double bronze-medal feat at the Paris Olympics as a coach, has died. He was 49.
According to National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Rana breathed his last at a Delhi hospital on Thursday night.
Rana recently underwent a medical procedure after falling ill during the Indian contingent's return flight from the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany. Upon landing in New Delhi, he was immediately hospitalised and underwent a medical procedure to have a stent fixed.
After a decorated career as an elite shooter, Rana transformed Indian shooting through his roles as junior national team coach and high-performance trainer. Rana last served as the high-performance coach for Indian pistol shooters.
His coaching contributions include mentoring Manu and helping her secure a double bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. As a junior pistol coach since 2012, he has been instrumental in guiding shooters like Saurabh Chaudhary and Anish Bhanwala.
His work with the junior programme has created a pipeline of international talent. The NRAI had officially appointed him as the High-Performance coach for the 25m pistol discipline. Rana is credited with instituting rigorous training routines that perfectly replicated the pressure of actual Olympic matches.
For his contributions to the sport and the development of the next generation of shooters, he was given the Dronacharya Award in 2020.
