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Jaspal Rana: Indian shooting mourns its first poster boy, ace coach

National Herald | June 12, 2026 9:40 PM CST

As Manu Bhaker was taking part in a trailblazing campaign at the Paris Olympics in 2024, her personal coach Jaspal Rana was left to fend for himself. He didn’t have accreditation as he was then not on the National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) roster of official coaches, stayed in rented accommodation, cooked his own food and had to buy tickets to the venue when Manu and his other shooters were competing.

A photo of Jaspal and his most famous ward, which went viral on social media ever since news of the 49-year-old’s death shook the shooting community and national media on Friday morning, summed up the chemistry between them. The travelling media took a casual snap as they were heading out in a golf cart from the shooting range, and Manu looked content having already claimed her two bronze medals.

The much-publicised split between Manu and her mentor ahead of Tokyo 2020 and then the reunion in 2023, when Manu reached out to chart a roadmap for Paris, has now become part of the country’s shooting folklore. His loss cast a shadow over the shooting fraternity, with the likes of India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra taking to social media along with the likes of President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian shooting loses a legend: Jaspal Rana dies at 49

Bindra posted on his X handle: ‘’Heartbroken to hear about Jaspal Rana’s passing. 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.’’

Joydeep Karmakar, the celebrated national rifle coach who narrowly missed out on a bronze in London 2012, was devastated. ‘’He (Jaspal) was really a larger-than-life character who created an air of positivity whereever he went. A dear friend, he often addressed me as babumoshai and it will take me a long time to get over this sense of loss,’’ Karmakar told National Herald from Bhopal.

Recalling their first meeting, the Kolkata-based shooting ace said his first meeting with Jaspal was somewhat bittersweet. ‘’It was ahead of my international debut in the Australian Open when he was trying to rag me. We had a bit of a spat but then I realised he was like that — fun-loving but a fount of knowledge about the sport,’’ Karmakar recalled.

Indian shooting loses a legend: Jaspal Rana dies at 49

NRAI president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said in a statement: 'The whole shooting fraternity is in a state of shock and we are still not able to process it as we were hearing that he was recovering after undergoing surgery. Jaspal Rana, through his performances and dynamic personality, single-handedly brought the sport of shooting into popular imagination in India. As a coach, he brought glory to the nation at the highest level, churning out champions after champions. It is a huge loss to our sport as he had so much more to give. Gone too soon.'

While Manu’s success propped up Jaspal’s profile as a coach again, he also guided emerging shooters like Saurabh Chaudhary, Chinki Yadav and others to glory. Never the one to pull his punches, Jaspal didn’t shy away from criticising the Union sports ministry’s Khelo India programme only two years back as he felt it was not producing enough quality and wanted NRAI to re-introduce its junior development programme.

It will also be no exaggeration to say that back in the mid-90s, the then charmingly baby-faced 18-year-old from Uttarakhand was the first real poster boy of Indian shooting. He struck gold in the 25m centre fire pistol at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games and the same year, also became a junior world champion in the 25m standard pistol event in Milan.

He eventually claimed four gold medals at the Asian Games and nine at the Commonwealth Games and also participated in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. An Arjuna and Dronacharya awardee, Jaspal was weeks short of his 50th birthday when tragedy struck.

Go well, Jaspal Rana…