'20 Din Baad Unhone Hi Tod Diya': Anish Bhanwala Pays Heartfelt Tribute To Jaspal Rana

Commonwealth Games gold medallist and World Championships silver medallist Anish Bhanwala has paid his heartfelt tribute to Jaspal Rana, the 1994 Asian Games gold medallist, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 49.

As per National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Rana breathed his last at a Delhi hospital on Thursday night.

Rana underwent a medical procedure after falling ill during the Indian contingent’s return flight from the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany.

Anish was one of several shooters whom Rana groomed during their junior days and the former was understandably emotional at Rana’s sudden passing.

“I want to share two moments. Last month, we trained together in Italy for the first time in many

years. He had worked closely with me during my junior days in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but after that he was no longer directly involved in my training,” Anish said while speaking to News18 Sports.

“Ahead of the Munich World Cup, we were together again at a training camp in Lucca, Italy. What he told me there now feels like a life lesson. He was a different person from the one I had known in his earlier years,” Anish added.

The 23-year-old shooter then recounted a heartfelt interaction with Rana, a conversation that he is now looking back on.

“I remember telling him that I was not an emotional person, that no matter how bad things got in competition, I never cried. He seemed surprised and replied, ‘You are human too. One day, you will break,” Anish recounted.

“Mujhe nahi pata thha 20 din baad wahi tod denge (At the time, I had no idea that 20 days later, he would be the one to break me),” Anish said.

As a junior pistol coach since 2012, Rana had groomed teen sensations such as Anish, Saurabh Chaudhary and Chinki Yadav.

Rana’s work with the junior programme had created a huge pipeline of international talent.

Would there be one life lesson from Rana that Anish would remember? “I still remember something he told me before I stepped onto the firing point at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. I was nervous and under immense pressure ahead of the second half,” Anish recalled.

“He looked at me and said, ‘If you win today, the whole world will be with you. And if you don’t, I will still be with you.’ Those words meant a lot to me then. Eight years later, in Italy, he repeated the same message. Looking back now, that memory has become incredibly emotional for me,” Anish signed off.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the sport and his role in nurturing the next generation of shooters, Rana was honoured with the prestigious Dronacharya Award by the government in 2020.