Renowned shooter & coach Jaspal Rana passes away at 49

Asian Games medallist and the coach of two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Jaspal Rana passed away on Thursday night.

Rana, who was just 49, took his last breath at a hospital in Delhi.

He had accompanied the Indian pistol shooters as a high performance coach at the recently concluded ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany where India bagged two gold and two silver medals.

Rana fell ill during his return flight from Munich and was rushed to a hospital upon arrival in Delhi.

The doctors recommended a stent procedure for the heart, but Rana couldn't recover.

"Heartbroken to hear about Jaspal Rana’s passing," wrote Abhinav Bindra, India's first individual Olympic gold medallist and Rana's former teammate in a social media post.

"Jaspal was my teammate, and in many ways, part of a generation that helped shape Indian shooting. He was intense, gifted, and carried the pride of the country every time he stepped onto the range.

"This is a huge loss for our sport. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, students and everyone whose life he touched," added Bindra.

Born in 1976, Rana was a highly successful athlete, winning medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games before moving to the world of shooting.

He is widely regarded as one of the modern day greats of the sport and played a vital role in the rise of Indian shooting as a force to reckon with at the global stage.

He bagged a whopping 15 medals, including 9 gold medals across four editions of the Commonwealth Games and was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1994 and Padma Shri in 1997.

Rana was also honoured with the Dronacharya Award in 2020 for his contributions as a coach.

Four years later, he led Manu Bhaker to a double medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympics.