Jaspal Rana (born 28 June 1976) is an Indian

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

. He contested mainly in the 25 m Centre Fire Pistol category. He was a gold medallist at the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

- Men's Center Fire Pistol, Men's Center Fire Pistol Pairs,

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

- Men's 25m Center Fire Pistol,

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

- Men's 25m Center Fire Pistol Pairs, and

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. At present, Rana coaches at the Jaspal Rana Institute of Education and Technology in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

Career

At the age of 12, Jaspal Rana made his first accomplishment at his national debut winning a silver at the 31st National Shooting Championship held at Ahmedabad in 1988. His astounding performance earned him huge accolades and appreciation at his very first win. He grabbed his first grand international glory at the 46th World Shooting Championship (Junior Section) with a world record score in Milan, Italy in the year 1994. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, he equaled the world record in 25 m Center Fire Pistol with 590 points (he had made this score twice previously; in 1995 in Coimbatore, and 1997 in Bangalore in the national competitions). His other significant achievements include gold medals in 1998 Commonwealth Games - Men's Center Fire Pistol, Men's Center Fire Pistol Pairs, 2002 Commonwealth Games - Men's 25m Center Fire Pistol and 2006 Commonwealth Games in Men's 25m Centre Fire Pistols with Samaresh Jung. The Indian Olympic Association sparked controversy when it announced that Rana would receive the 'Best Sportsperson' award at the Asian Games, but instead, Korea's Park Tae-Hwan received the honor. Rana took this entire incident very gracefully ignoring the entire goof-up.

Major achievements

* Gold Medal in the

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

* Gold medal in Men's 25m Centre Fire Pistol (Pairs) with

Samaresh Jung Samaresh Jung (born 5 May 1970) is an Indian sport shooter. He is an air pistol specialist. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, he won two gold medals, in the men's free pistol pairs and in the open event of 25 m standard pistol pai ...

at the

* Gold Medals in 25m Standard Pistol and 25m Center Fire Pistol at the 2006 Asian Games on 7-8 Dec 2006 * While winning the 25 m Center Fire Pistol event, Rana equalled the world record by aggregating 590 points.*

Awards and recognition

In 1994, he was awarded

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

, the second highest award for achievement in sport, by the Indian government at an age of eighteen, by twenty one he became Padma Shri and in between he was awarded National Citizen award by none other than Mother Teresa, other awards of national fame also came his way like windfall.

Political career

Shortly after the Asian Games, Rana entered into the realm of politics. He was then a member of the ruling party, Bhartiya Janta Party and contested in Lok Sabha elections from Tehri. In the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections he lost to Vijay Bahuguna of Congress. Later in the year 2012, he joined INC and is presently an active member of the party in Uttarakhand.

Personal life

His father,

Narayan Singh Rana Narayan Singh Rana is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Rana was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council from the Garhwal Division in Uttarakhand. He is father and first coach of an Indian shooter Jaspal Ra ...

is a politician and his coach. He has two siblings Sushma Singh (Rana), who is also the daughter-in-law of

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as t ...

, an eminent BJP leader and Subhash Rana. Both his siblings are also accomplished shooters.Dhanaulti MLA's supporters protest ticket to Rajnath's relative
/ref> He is married to Aarushie Verma, an environmentalist , interior designer and national level shooter in pistol & shotgun.

References

External links

* http://www.issf-sports.org/shooters/shooter.ashx?personissfid=SHINDM2806197601 Jaspal Rana profile} at ISSF *
Jaspal Rana Institute of Education and Technology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Jaspal Indian male sport shooters ISSF pistol shooters Shooters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Sport shooters from Uttarakhand People from Uttarkashi Living people 1976 births Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games gold medalists for India Delhi University alumni Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttarakhand Asian Games medalists in shooting Shooters at the 1994 Asian Games Shooters at the 1998 Asian Games Shooters at the 2002 Asian Games Shooters at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic shooters of India Recipients of the Dronacharya Award