Jaspal Rana – a giant of Indian shooting who leaves behind a legacy

Jaspal Rana was excellence in a hurry. He did everything so early that he captured the imagination of the entire nation with his brilliant shooting and bubbly personality at a young age.

In 1994, he won the World Championship junior gold, apart from two gold medals, one silver and a bronze in the Commonwealth Games and one gold and as many bronze in the Asian Games in Hiroshima. He kept getting better with age and shone bright yet again in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, striking three gold medals.

The Olympics and World Championships medals eluded him despite his exploits in the Commonwealth Games. Coach and mentor Tibor Gonczol used to confide that Jaspal owed him a big medal.

Jaspal did admit that he kept shooting the non-Olympic events — standard pistol and centre fire pistol — as the medals at various levels were very important for the country. This was exceptional maturity and unselfish attitude that may have gone unnoticed.

“For 16 years, I performed in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. Tibor tried to prepare me for the Olympics. I did not have the mindset to give up on something I was so good at, and which gave Indian shooting such an identity, and pursue something in which I was not so good. Had I compromised my time with other events, I may not have been that good in anything. Those two events were important in getting Indian shooting the recognition and the progress that it has made thus far,” Jaspal had said.

“All the support for shooting was triggered because of that. I didn’t want to change any of that just because I had to be at my best in the Olympics, for which there was no guarantee. It was not meant for me, and I have no regrets.”

When Manu Bhaker won two bronze medals in the Paris Olympics in 2024, under his guidance, Jaspal did feel that he had answered the faith of Tibor, who had laid such a strong foundation for Indian shooting. It was Jaspal’s ‘guru dakshina’ for the incomparable coach.

In the media, we grew up learning the nuances of the sport, watching Jaspal show his mastery under the shrewd guidance of Gonczol and national coach Prof. Sunny Thomas.

Jaspal served the Indian shooting as the National junior coach for about a decade, sincerely setting up a foolproof system to guide the talented shooters and help them achieve world standards in quick time.

He was known for strict discipline. When Manu came a few minutes late for the felicitation function by her alma matter, Lady Shri Ram College, following the Paris high, Jaspal publicly admonished her in front of all the students.

“Never do it again. If you value time, time will value you”, he said. Manu was not offended and apologised as she revered Jaspal and understood the meaning of his methods.

The trust the young shooters had for him was very high. They loved and respected him, more than fear him.

“I enjoyed working with all the shooters. They did a lot of hard work. They left ice cream, they left social media, they left mobile phones. We worked on every small detail. The bond between coach and shooter is very important, and that is built on trust,” he said.

Jaspal won the Arjuna Award when he was very young, and the Dronacharya Award was bestowed on him for his stupendous accomplishments as a coach.

Destiny was in a hurry to snatch him from us at 49. He had returned with the team from the World Cup in Germany, and so much was expected of him, especially in terms of the forthcoming Olympics in Los Angeles.

Jaspal was indeed a giant of Indian shooting. His exit will undoubtedly strengthen the resolve of the young shooters to be at their best on the world stage, as a tribute to his rich contribution to Indian sport.