Double Olympic Medallist Manu Bhaker Opens Up On Coach Jaspal Rana's Future

Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker said Jaspal Rana will continue to be her "coach" despite the Dronacharya awardee being roped in as the High Performance trainer for pistol discipline by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) earlier this month. Rana, a four-time Asian Games gold medallist, had a fall-out with Manu before the Tokyo Olympics but they reconciled before the last year's Paris Games, where the latter made history by bagging two bronze medals. Under Rana's personal guidance, Manu, who was struggling after the Tokyo Games, made a remarkable comeback and became the first Indian to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics since Independence.

She won bronze medals in 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team events in Paris to create history.

But it wouldn't have been possible without Rana's guidance and Manu agrees to it.

Rana now has been roped in as the High Performance coach for pistol shooters by the NRAI but Manu still considers him as her mentor.

"Honestly, I only have to say one thing that he (Rana) is my coach all I know and he is very good at what he does. He is very very talented and he has been a great coach for me.

"All I know and all I can say is that he is my coach. Of course, he can be anyone else's coach as well but for me he is my coach," Manu said after winning the BBC Sportswomen of the Year 2024 award at a glittering function here on Monday night.

Rana had earlier served as the National coach for the juniors for about a decade, building a strong base for Indian shooting.

After the Paris Olympics, Manu took a long break and was working on her sore elbow.

Upon her return to the competitive circuit at the National trials here earlier this month, Manu finished