Manu Bhaker's coach: All you need to know about the Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medallist's coach Jaspal Rana
Coach Jaspal Rana must be swelling with pride following his student, shooter Manu Bhaker’s, dual achievement at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Manu has won two bronze medals in Paris.
The first came in the individual women's 10m air pistol final and the second in the air pistol mixed team event with partner Sarabjot Singh.
The star athlete has been under the wings of Jaspal Rana since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jaspal is an accomplished shooter himself, being a four-time Asian Games gold medallist. The 47-year-old is receiving plenty of credit for his student’s splendid show at the Summer Games.
Though Arjuna Awardee Jaspal Rana is not a part of India’s national coaching set-up, he has been a major part of Manu’s preparations leading up to the Games in Paris. Between 2018 and 2021, under Rana’s coaching, Manu had multiple ISSF World Cup medals and also won the gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The coach-student bond between Jaspal and Manu was apparent during the women’s singles event on Sunday (July 28). Rana was seated in the finals hall with a stop clock and had the shot targets on his phone.
Manu could be seen looking at her coach during every key moment throughout her bronze medal triumphant run.
Manu Bhaker and Jaspal Rana’s bitter fallout before 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Though the pair are going strong now, things were not always this solid between Bhaker and Rana. Three years ago, the two had a bitter spat leading into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Just before the Games in Tokyo, Bhaker had a public fallout with her coach. After a journey of several successful seasons together, the two parted ways just as the Tokyo Olympics were to begin.
Following the controversy, Manu Bhaker had a disastrous campaign in Tokyo. Following the event, the two showed great maturity and buried all hatchet. Since then, the two have worked tirelessly together leading into Paris.
Their collaborative success is proof that when together, the two can work wonders in the sport of shooting.