Legendary shooter and coach Jaspal Rana was cremated with full state honours as an emotional Manu Bhaker paid her last respects. The Indian sporting fraternity gathered to bid farewell to the Padma Shri and Dronacharya Awardee.
Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker pays tribute to her coach Jaspal Rana during at his residence in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on Friday, June 12, 2026. (Photo: IANS/Video Grab)
India bid an emotional farewell to legendary shooter and coach Jaspal Rana on Saturday as his mortal remains were placed at his residence for the public, fellow athletes, and dignitaries to pay their last respects. The 49-year-old, whose sudden death following cardiac complications stunned the sporting fraternity, was accorded full state honours.
Among those who paid their respects was double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Rana’s protege, who was visibly emotional as she joined family members, athletes, and well-wishers in remembering the coach who played a pivotal role in her career.
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The passing of Rana has triggered an outpouring of grief across the country, with political leaders, athletes, coaches, and fans paying tribute to one of India’s greatest shooters and one of the architects of the nation’s rise in the sport.
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Born in Uttarakhand on June 28, 1976, Rana announced himself on the international stage in 1994, winning the junior world title in the 25m Standard Pistol event in Milan with a world-record score.
Just two years later, he represented India at the Atlanta Olympics, becoming one of the pioneering figures of Indian shooting on the global stage.
Over a career spanning more than a decade, Rana amassed 15 Commonwealth Games medals, including nine gold medals across four editions between 1994 and 2006. He also won eight Asian Games medals, four of them gold, establishing himself among India’s most decorated shooters.
One of the defining moments of his career came at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, where he competed despite battling a high fever and won three gold medals while equalling the world record score of 590 in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event.
Also Read: PM Modi mourns Jaspal Rana’s demise, hails his extraordinary contribution to Indian shooting
His achievements earned him some of India’s highest sporting honours, including the Arjuna Award in 1994 and the Padma Shri in 1997.
Following his retirement, Rana transitioned into coaching and became a driving force behind India’s success in pistol shooting.
As national coach and high-performance coach for the 25m pistol discipline, he mentored several elite shooters, most notably Manu Bhaker, helping her rebuild after the disappointment of the Tokyo Olympics and guiding her to a historic two-medal haul at the Paris Olympics.
In recognition of his contribution to Indian sport as a mentor, Rana received the Dronacharya Award in 2020.
His legacy now extends far beyond the medals he won, living on through the generations of shooters he inspired and shaped.
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