One of the things Jaspal Rana loved explaining about the complex sport of shooting was the trigger pull. He’d show videos of his most famous ward, Manu Bhaker, and then painstakingly explain the almost invisible movements that produce the perfect shot. To most, it looked like nothing at all. To Rana, it was everything. He could admire a ‘beautiful shot’, he often said, even if it missed the bullseye.
It was a revealing quirk. For all his reputation as a straight-talker and fighter, Rana was fundamentally a shooting obsessive. A nerd who dedicated his life – first as an athlete, then as a coach – chasing perfection in a sport where success is measured in millimetres and movement is the enemy.
Rana, who passed away on Friday at the age of 49 after a brief illness, spent much of his life doing two things exceptionally well: shooting with pistols and speaking his mind. In many ways, his glorious career was a study in contradictions. Rana possessed the stillness required of an elite pistol shooter but carried himself with the energy of a man constantly ready for a fight. He could be warm and encouraging to young shooters, but blunt to the point of discomfort when confronting authority.
Rana spent much of his life doing two things exceptionally well: shooting with pistols and speaking his mind. (PTI Photo)
The son of a war veteran-turned-politician from Uttarakhand, Rana, who also dabbled in politics, emerged as one of Indian sport’s brightest young talents in the early 1990s with an Asian Games gold medal.
What followed was one of the most decorated careers Indian shooting has seen. Across Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and world-level competitions, Rana accumulated medals with remarkable consistency. His nine Commonwealth Games gold medals remained a benchmark for years. In 2006, at the Asian Games in Doha, he produced one of the finest performances of his career, winning three gold medals and a silver while equalling the world record in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event.
Yet, statistics alone don’t fully capture the shooter Rana was.
For all his reputation as a straight-talker and fighter, Rana was fundamentally a shooting obsessive. A nerd who dedicated his life – first as an athlete, then as a coach – chasing perfection in a sport where success is measured in millimetres and movement is the enemy. (PTI Photo)
Those who competed with him often spoke about his instinctive understanding of pistol shooting. Abhinav Bindra, paying tribute, described him as ‘intense and gifted’. Indeed, he was. Rana possessed a rare ability to deliver under pressure and unbreakable confidence in his own methods. He belonged to a generation that largely learned through repetition, discipline and self-belief rather than sports science and data analytics. He trusted his feel for the sport and was unapologetic about it.
That certainty often spilt beyond the range.
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Indian shooting has witnessed its share of political battles over the years, and Rana was seldom a passive observer. He could be combative, particularly when he felt standards were slipping or athletes were being shortchanged. At various points, disagreements with administrators and coaches pushed him to the margins of the national set-up. He was not always easy to accommodate, but neither was he willing to compromise for convenience.
Coach, mentor
Many of India’s international pistol shooters – from Manu Bhaker to Saurabh Chaudhary – passed through systems Rana helped build or influence. (PTI Photo)
His greatest contribution to Indian shooting may ultimately have come after he put the pistol down.
Long before India became a shooting superpower, Rana invested deeply in junior development. Through his academy and coaching work, he identified and nurtured young talent across the country. He became the junior coach in 2012, and in the decade that followed, many of India’s international pistol shooters – from Manu to Saurabh Chaudhary – passed through systems he helped build or influence.
His coaching style reflected his personality. There was little room for pretension. If a shooter was not performing, Rana would say so. If he believed an athlete could achieve more, he would push harder. The relationship was often demanding, but those who worked with him frequently spoke about the clarity he brought.
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The most visible chapter of his coaching career arrived through his association with Manu, the only Indian athlete to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics.
Their relationship was rarely straightforward. It included periods of extraordinary success, disagreements, separation and eventual reconciliation. At various points, Rana and Manu occupied opposite sides of public debates within Indian shooting. Yet the bond between coach and athlete never disappeared entirely.
When Bhaker endured difficult years after the Tokyo Olympics, Rana re-entered her corner. Together, they rebuilt. Manu has often described Rana’s role not simply as a technical coach but as a stabilising presence. He understood her strengths, weaknesses and competitive instincts perhaps better than anyone else. At the range, they would barely speak – all the communication would be through eye contact.
The culmination arrived at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Manu won the bronze medal in the 10m pistol individual and mixed team events. “I feel God sent him for me,” Manu had said after her medals.
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Rana, who was ostracised by the Indian shooting fraternity after the Tokyo Olympics because of his outspokenness, would have had the urge to scream ‘told you so’ after Manu won those medals. But he sat alone in his hotel room – he didn’t have the accreditation to stay with the athletes – binged on crisps and was already plotting for a better-coloured medal at Los Angeles 2028.
That, perhaps, was the most Jaspal Rana thing of all. Even at the summit, he was already searching for the next perfect shot.
