Jaspal Rana is no more.
The maverick shooter who went on to become the focal point of Indian pistol team’s successes, passed away in Delhi on Friday.
He underwent a procedure where a stent was inserted after a blockage was detected at Saket’s Max Hospital.
The doctors scheduled a second procedure soon. Not to be, the maverick shooter’s demise at only 49 has shocked the shooting community.
Jaspal’s life mirrors his career. As a young star, Rana shot into the limelight by winning the gold medal at the World Shooting Championships in 1994 and the Asian Games gold medal in the center fire pistol event.
It peaked during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, where he won three gold medals. Yet he knew he could have delivered many more medals, including at the Olympics. How else can one explain that Rana took part in only one Olympic Games, in 1996 Atlanta, USA. He knew the answer.
“We were not aware of a lot of things when I started shooting. Lack of discipline and good coaching was one of the reasons why we were not consistent enough,” he had said to this correspondent some years ago.
Discipline became a cornerstone of his coaching philosophy when he was charged by the then National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh to lead India’s junior shooting programme. Results came quickly; Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala, became junior World Champions as Indian juniors began climbing the medals tally.
However, Jaspal never compromised on discipline. Once he openly shouted at Bhanwala for breaking the national camp’s discipline. His fault was an untucked India T-shirt. Never to back down, Jaspal had several fallouts with his young trainees, including with Manu, before the Tokyo Olympics.
Jaspal was pitching for the inclusion of Chinki Yadav in the squad as he reckoned Manu, as a first-time Olympian, though World No. 1 ranked, should not be tasked to shoot in three competitions. The fallout was public. NRAI sided with Manu, who then requested a change in her coaching staff. Ronak Pandit stepped in. Tokyo was a disaster for the shooting contingent, with zero medals, and NRAI, in a press conference, blamed Jaspal for the losses.
This struck a personal note, and Jaspal had to bid his time. Manu asked Jaspal to help out a little more than a year before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as her scores and performances started to dip. Redemption came in Paris. Two bronze medals, won by Manu, were made by Jaspal. “I am relieved, to be honest. It felt like the curse that I was carrying from the Tokyo Games. I will not say it is over now that she has won a medal, but it is such a big relief for all of us,” Jaspal had told The Tribune from Paris that day.
They called him moody, temperamental, a loudmouth because he was never a ‘yes man’ to the officials. Yet, every time there was a dip in performance, Jaspal was asked to step in. He was a truly misunderstood star, a fact well explained by former World No. 1 double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi. “Jaspal was a dear friend. Above all, he was a great human being, and not many people understood him. But those who knew him well knew what a great man he was,” Sodhi said.
