Indian shooting legend and renowned coach Jaspal Rana passed away on Friday at the age of 49 after suffering a cardiac emergency earlier this week.
Rana, who was serving as the high-performance coach for India’s pistol shooters, had reportedly felt discomfort while returning to India from the ISSF World Cup in Munich. After landing in New Delhi, he was admitted to Max Hospital in Saket, where he underwent treatment.
Doctors identified a cardiac blockage and inserted a stent. A second stent procedure was expected to be carried out in the coming days. While initial reports suggested that he was stable and recovering, news of his death emerged on Friday morning.
SHOOTING GREAT DIES
“He experienced chest pain and discomfort during the ISSF World Cup in Munich, which he initially mistook for acidity, and continued with his travel plans. However, the discomfort returned during the journey back to India, prompting immediate medical attention upon his arrival in Delhi,” his brother Subash Rana told the media.
Rana’s death has come as a major blow to Indian shooting. One of the country’s most accomplished shooters and respected coaches, he played an important role in shaping several generations of pistol shooters and remained actively involved with the national programme until his final days.
In recent years, Rana was widely recognised for his work with Manu Bhaker. The two shared a successful partnership that culminated at the Paris Olympics in 2024, where Bhaker won bronze medals in the women’s 10m air pistol and the mixed team 10m air pistol events, becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics after Independence.
Apart from Bhaker, Rana worked closely with several leading pistol shooters, including Saurabh Chaudhary, Anish Bhanwala and Chinki Yadav. His tenure with the junior programme helped create a strong pool of talent that consistently delivered results for India at international competitions.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) appointed Rana as the High-Performance Coach for the 25m pistol discipline in February 2025. Five years earlier, he had been conferred the Dronacharya Award for his contribution to coaching.
INDIA’S DECORATED PISTOL SHOOTER
Long before he became one of India’s most respected coaches, Rana had established himself as one of the finest pistol shooters the country had produced.
Born on June 28, 1976, in Uttarakhand, Rana announced himself on the international stage in 1994. At the World Shooting Championships in Milan, he won gold in the junior category with a world-record score. Later that year, he claimed gold in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event at the Asian Games, beginning a career that would span more than a decade at the highest level.
Rana went on to become one of India’s most successful shooters, winning medals across the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships. He remains India’s most successful Commonwealth Games shooter, with 15 medals, including nine gold medals.
His most memorable performance came at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, where he won three gold medals and equalled the world record in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event.
The success came early in his career as well. Rana received the Arjuna Award at the age of 18 and was honoured with the Padma Shri three years later.
Over four editions of the Commonwealth Games — 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 — he remained among India’s most reliable medal contenders and helped establish shooting as one of the country’s strongest disciplines at multi-sport events.
THE COACH WHO SHAPED A GENERATION
After retiring from competitive shooting, Rana moved into coaching and joined the national setup in 2012. He took charge of the junior pistol programme and became a key figure in developing India’s next generation of shooters.
His work with young athletes earned widespread recognition as India continued to produce medal contenders across international competitions. Shooters such as Saurabh Chaudhary, Anish Bhanwala and Chinki Yadav progressed through the system during his tenure.
Rana was known for his attention to detail and his emphasis on preparing athletes for competition pressure. Fellow shooters and coaches often credited him for creating training environments that closely mirrored the demands of international events.
His association with Manu Bhaker was among the most significant chapters of his coaching career. After periods of ups and downs in Bhaker’s journey, Rana played an important role in her preparations leading up to the Paris Olympics, where she emerged as one of India’s standout performers.
Even after taking over as High-Performance Coach for the 25m pistol discipline, Rana remained closely involved with the national team and continued to work with India’s leading pistol shooters.
TRIBUTES POUR IN
Tributes poured in from across the sporting fraternity following news of his death. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed his condolences, saying he was “stunned and grief-stricken” by Rana’s passing.
“I am stunned and grief-stricken by the sudden demise of the internationally renowned shooter Jaspal Rana. Jaspal was not only an exceptional athlete and coach but also an extremely affable, simple, and very kind-hearted person. He played a highly influential role in popularising shooting as a sport in India.
“Jaspal Rana brought glory to India on the world stage by securing gold medals for the country in the World Shooting Championship and the Asian Games. His passing is a great loss to the Indian sports world. May God grant strength to his bereaved family to bear this pain. At this difficult time, I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” Singh wrote on X.
Rana is survived by a record that places him among India’s most decorated shooters and a coaching career that influenced many of the country’s leading pistol shooters. His contributions as both an athlete and a coach spanned more than three decades and coincided with the rise of Indian shooting as a major force on the international stage.
