Former India shooter and celebrated coach Jaspal Rana died at 49 after cardiac complications. The mentor to Manu Bhaker leaves behind a lasting legacy in Indian shooting.
Legendary shooter and Manu Bhaker's mentor Jaspal Rana dies at 49 (PC: Rajnath Singh/X)
Former India shooter and celebrated coach Jaspal Rana, who played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of several of the country’s top pistol shooters, including Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, passed away in New Delhi on Friday due to cardiac complications at the age of 49.
Rana was admitted to Max Hospital in Saket, South Delhi, after experiencing chest pain and discomfort following the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany. Hospital officials confirmed that he breathed his last on Friday.
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According to reports, Rana initially experienced chest discomfort during the ISSF World Cup in Munich but mistook it for acidity and continued his travel plans. The discomfort returned during his flight back to India, following which he was immediately admitted to the hospital in Delhi. He underwent a stent procedure to treat a cardiac blockage and was reportedly stable, with another procedure planned, before news of his passing emerged.
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His death is a major loss for Indian shooting, where he left an indelible mark both as one of the country’s greatest athletes and as a mentor to the next generation of champions.
One of India’s most decorated shooters, Rana remains the nation’s most successful Commonwealth Games athlete, winning an extraordinary 15 medals – nine gold, four silver and two bronze – across the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions of the Games.
His success extended beyond the Commonwealth stage. Rana won four gold medals and one silver at the Asian Games, including a gold at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games and a historic haul of three gold medals at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. During the same edition, he equalled the world record in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event with an aggregate score of 590.
Rana had announced himself on the global stage as a teenager by winning the 1994 World Shooting Championships in Milan with a world-record score in the junior category.
Known for his resilience, Rana famously captured three gold medals at the 2006 Doha Asian Games despite competing with a high fever, a feat that remains one of the defining moments in Indian shooting history.
After retiring from competition, he devoted himself to coaching and talent development. As a junior national coach and later India’s high-performance pistol coach, he identified and nurtured several future stars, most notably Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary.
Although Rana and Bhaker had a widely publicised fallout ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, they later reunited. Under his guidance, Bhaker scripted history at the Paris Olympics 2024, where she won two bronze medals, becoming one of India’s standout performers at the games.
At the time of his death, Rana was serving as India’s high-performance coach for pistol events, leaving behind a legacy that spans more than three decades as both a champion shooter and an inspirational mentor.
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