New Delhi, June 13 -- With his glasses in place and his gaze firmly transfixed on the firing station, Jaspal Rana would be a picture of bubbling intensity on the coach's chair as his famous wards went about their business. Win or lose, his demeanour would barely change, except for a reluctant, half-smile reserved for TV cameras. But once the din subsided, Rana, like a professor he would dissect the seemingly boring, static pursuit bit by bit, identifying gaps to be plugged and opportunities to be explored. Undone by Father Time at a Delhi hospital at 49, Rana's life was dedicated to the sport he dearly loved; it went on to define him. Shooting ranges are sanitised spaces, their silent anticipation broken only by the distinct crack of the weapon. Unlike most spectator sports, the protagonists here have their backs to the audience, as if to say the world doesn't matter to them. What lies ahead is what matters, a metaphor for life for those who wish to take note. These ranges, from Delhi to Dehradun to Bhopal to the world became his playground. And boy, did he play well! A trendsetter of Indian shooting, Rana's pistol claimed medals by the bucketful at international meets when Indian shooters barely made the finals. Shotgun exponents Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh Sandhu had their share of success, but if there was one shooter who really captured the national imagination before Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Abhinav Bindra unlocked the Olympic potential, it was him. Rana made a splash as a teenage national sporting star in 1994 after the then 18-year-old St Stephen's student won gold in centre fire and silver, after a shoot-off, in air pistol. The same year at the Hiroshima Asian Games, he won the centre fire gold and a team bronze to announce his arrival. As years rolled on, Rana made Asian Games and CWG his hunting grounds, racking up eight medals at the Asiad and 15 at the CWG (individual and team combined). Six of those 15 CWG medals came in the 2002 Manchester edition alone where he won four gold, one silver and a bronze. At the Asian Games, his most successful outing was in the 2006 Doha Games when he won three gold medals and a team silver. Then 30 and in the final lap of his glorious career, Rana equalled the then world record in his pet 25m centre fire pistol with 590 points, and broke down on the shoulders of his coach, the late Sunny Thomas. Cut to February 2019 at the Dr Karni Singh Range. Manu Bhaker, already a darling of the media following a clutch of medals at the Youth Olympics, World Cups and CWG, finished outside medals in the 25m pistol at the home World Cup, went past the waiting media and broke down in the arms of Rana, who fought hard to hold back tears. It was a moment that revealed the rare, raw side of the delicate athlete-coach relationship, which would be put to the test just two years later, ironically at the same range when Rana would strut around with a printed message-purportedly from Manu - on the back of his shirt. Their relationship at its nadir, Manu, along with the Indian contingent, had a disastrous outing at the Tokyo Olympics. Then, something changed. A little over a year before the Paris Olympics, the coach and the talented protege decided to team up again, and in a script straight out of the movies, went on to win two bronze medals. Manu and Rana had their redemption. Never one to back down, Rana demanded nothing but excellence. In a pursuit that has perfection at its very core, Rana understood the unmistakable value of discipline. As a junior India coach, his old-school disciplinarian approach chiselled many a raw talent that became world beaters-Manu, Anish Bhanwala, Saurabh Chaudhary, to name a few. Rana is survived by his parents, wife, and two children....