Indian shooting lost one of its finest minds on Thursday night. Jaspal Rana, a legend of the pistol range and the architect behind some of the sport’s most celebrated recent chapters, passed away at Max Saket Hospital in New Delhi. He was 49, and had been hospitalised after falling ill on the Indian contingent’s return flight from the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany, where he underwent a procedure to have a cardiac stent fixed. The news, confirmed by NRAI president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, landed like a shot no one saw coming.
Rana’s own career as a competitive shooter was the stuff of quiet, sustained brilliance. He won 15 international medals, including nine gold, across the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, with his most celebrated haul coming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where he won six medals in a single edition.
At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, already 30 and competing in his fourth Asian Games, he produced perhaps his finest individual performance, winning three gold medals and a silver, equalling the world record in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event with 590 points. He had competed at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He was, as Abhinav Bindra once described him, the most talented pistol shooter of his generation.
But it is what Rana built after stepping back from competition that may endure even longer than the medals. From 2012 onwards, he channelled his mastery into coaching, working first with the junior national programme before being appointed high-performance coach for the 25m pistol discipline by the NRAI in February 2025.
His junior coaching years produced a remarkable pipeline of talent, including Saurabh Chaudhary, Anish Bhanwala, and Chinki Yadav, all names that went on to represent India at the highest level.
Yet the relationship that defined his coaching legacy, and that will be most remembered, was the one he shared with Manu Bhaker. He began coaching Bhaker in 2018, though the two had a bruising public falling-out in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics, before reuniting in 2023 to prepare for Paris.
That reconciliation proved to be one of Indian sport’s most consequential decisions. Under Rana’s guidance, Bhaker went on to win a historic double bronze at the Paris Olympics 2024, becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single Games in the modern era. Bhaker had once said that Rana’s presence makes her “feel more courage, more confident. I feel I cannot give up.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who paid tribute. “He brought immense glory to the nation through his extraordinary achievements in shooting. Equally remarkable was his contribution as a mentor, shaping and guiding young athletes with great dedication,” the PM wrote.
Jaspal Rana leaves behind a legacy that will not fade, be it the medals that are on record, or the shooters he coached that are still competing. Rest well, legend.
