Jaspal Rana: The Legacy Of A Shooting Great

Last Updated:June 12, 2026, 18:06 IST

He won medals across the world's biggest shooting events and later helped shape India's next generation of champions. A look back at the life and legacy of Jaspal Rana.

Former India shooter and celebrated coach Jaspal Rana passed away in New Delhi following health complications. He had been admitted to Max Hospital in Saket after reportedly falling ill while returning from the ISSF World Cup in Munich and subsequently underwent a medical procedure. Rana was one of India’s greatest shooting icons, with a career filled with remarkable achievements. He remains the country’s most successful Commonwealth Games athlete, having won 15 medals, including 9 golds, across 4 editions of the Games. He also excelled at the Asian Games, securing 4 gold medals and 1 silver, highlighted by a haul of 3 golds in Doha in 2006, despite competing with a high fever. His accomplishments extended to the world stage, where he won gold at the 1994 World Shooting Championships in Milan and equalled the world record in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event in 2006. After retiring, Rana became a respected coach, mentoring stars such as Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary. At the time of his passing, he was serving as India’s high-performance pistol coach.

Jaspal Rana passed away at the age of 49 after battling cardiac complications (News18 Creative)

Revisiting the career and legacy of one of the sport's most influential figures (News18 Creative)

Jaspal Rana announced himself as one of India's brightest shooting talents while still a teenager (News18 Creative)

Jaspal Rana won 15 CWG and 8 Asian Games medals - 13 of which were Gold (News18 Creative)

He had flown the Indian tri-colour high at various meets around the World (News18 Creative)

Jaspal Rana at the 2006 Doha Asian Games bagged three gold medals and even equalled the world record of the time (News18 Creative)

He coached Manu Bhaker during her history-making outing at the 2024 Paris Olympics (News18 Creative)

Jaspal Rana helped shape Manu Bhaker, Surabh Chaudhary, Anish Bhanwala and Chinki Yadav (News18 Creative)

He was honoured with the Dronacharya Award in 2020, Arjuna award in 1994 and Padma Shri in 1997 (News18 Creative)