Jaspal Rana, champion shooter and master mentor, was one of a kind

Indian shooting has produced Olympic champions, world champions and celebrated coaches. But there was only one Jaspal Rana — outspoken, occasionally controversial, often brilliant and always deeply invested in the sport. Rana, who died on Friday, was a champion long before Olympic medals made shooting a national obsession. He won an Asian Games gold in 1994, and over the next decade, his cabinet would be brimming with medals. He couldn’t win an Olympic medal because his pet event, centre-fire pistol, wasn’t in the Olympics.

After his competitive career ended, Rana became the junior India coach, shaping a generation of shooters and helping lay the foundations for India’s rise as a global power in the sport. In a sport increasingly shaped by technology, analytics and specialised support teams, Rana remained a believer in fundamentals. He was uncompromising on discipline and hard work — these traits helped Manu Bhaker become the first Indian athlete to win two medals at the Paris Olympics.

Rana didn’t shy away from demanding answers. When the GST was introduced, and shooting equipment was put in a high tax bracket, he spoke up for the shooters. Officialdom didn’t always take his views kindly. They blamed his “negative influence” for the poor show at the Tokyo Olympics. Three years later, in Paris as Bhaker’s coach, he was vindicated. For three decades, Indian shooting could count on one certainty: Jaspal Rana would have an opinion, and he would not hesitate to share it. More often than not, the sport was better for it.