Jashpal Rana: End of an era in Indian shooting. Legendary shooter Yashpal Rana, who won gold at the Asian Games and was one of the country’s most successful coaches, passed away untimely. He breathed his last on Friday at the age of 49. He had been suffering from heart problems earlier this week. Despite bringing gold to the country, he had to accept defeat in the life-and-death struggle.
Yashpal Rana, who is the ‘high-performance coach’ of Indian pistol shooters, felt chest pain and discomfort while returning home from the ISSF World Cup in Munich. After reaching New Delhi, he was admitted to Max Hospital in Saket and was undergoing treatment there. Doctors identified a blockage in his coronary artery and inserted a stent there. Another stent was to be inserted in the coming days. While initial reports said that his condition was stable and he was recovering, his death was reported on Friday morning. Dr Balbir Singh, Head of the Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology Department at Max Super Speciality Hospital, said that Rana had reached the hospital in a critical condition due to continuing his journey despite experiencing chest pain.
“He had a severe heart attack three days ago. He was travelling and was suffering from chest pain until he reached the hospital in a critical condition. The artery responsible for the heart attack was completely blocked. It was found that his heart’s pumping ability was severely weakened and he was suffering from heart failure,” Dr Balbir Singh told news agency ANI. Yashpal Rana won gold in the junior category of the World Championships in Milan in 1994, setting a world record. He also won gold at the Hiroshima Asian Games in the same year. His most impressive performance came at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, where he won four golds, a silver and a bronze. Four years later, at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, at the age of 30, he won three golds and a silver. In 2012, he started coaching as the junior national pistol coach. That move changed Indian shooting. He created Sourav Chowdhury, who won gold at the Asian Games and became the Youth Olympic champion at the age of 16.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the death of the legendary shooter. In an ex-post, he wrote, “I am deeply saddened by the death of Shri Yashpal Rana Ji. His demise is an irreparable loss to the Indian sports world.” He further wrote, “Rana brought immense glory to the country through his extraordinary success in shooting and his contribution as a mentor was equally commendable. He developed and guided young athletes with great dedication.” In his words, “His unwavering commitment to excellence, discipline and the world of sports has earned him immense admiration. My condolences to his family, friends and the entire sports world at this hour of grief. Om Shanti.”
