Jaspal Rana: The Shooting Legend Behind Manu Bhaker's Rise To Top
Jaspal Rana, a pioneering Indian shooter and coach, died at 49 due to a heart problem, for which he was admitted to a Delhi hospital.
- Jaspal Rana died at the age of 49 after being admitted to a hospital in Delhi due to chest pain
- He was a key figure in India's shooting sport as an athlete and coach
- He secured multiple Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medals in the 1990s-2000s
As India finds itself amongst the absolute best in the sport of shooting, one man whose contribution cannot go unnoticed is Jaspal Rana. The 49-year-old breathed his last in a Delhi hospital, where he was admitted after complaining of chest pain during the ISSF World Cup in Munich. Jaspal had undergone a stent procedure as doctors looked to clear the blockage in his arteries. However, the relief from the procedure didn't last for long. His condition was said to be stable, but a dramatic change in his health condition led to his death on Thursday night. As the entire Indian sporting fraternity mourns Jaspal's death, his contributions to the sport, both as an athlete and a coach, cannot be forgotten.
Long before the nation celebrated Olympic medals from Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, or Manu Bhaker, Rana was the man who laid the foundation of India's modern shooting era. As a world-class shooter and later an uncompromising coach, his influence shaped generations of Indian shooters, most notably Manu Bhaker, the athlete who made history by winning two medals at the Paris Olympic Games.
Born in Uttarakhand, Jaspal burst onto the international scene in the early 1990s. His breakthrough performance came at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, where he clinched the gold medal in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event at just 18 years of age. That same year, he equalled the world record score in the junior section at the ISSF World Shooting Championships in Milan.
READ |Â Jaspal Rana: A Shooting Legend Who Shaped India's Modern Shooting Era
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he dominated regional and continental competitions, winning gold medals at the Asian Games in Hiroshima (1994) and Busan (2002). He went on to clinch three gold medals at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, alongside multiple Commonwealth Games titles.
He was honoured with the Arjuna Award at the tender age of 18. In 2020, Jaspal was officially conferred with the Dronacharya Award, India's highest coaching recognition, as the country acknowledged him as the architect of India's shooting renaissance, the fruits of which the nation will continue to reap for years to come.