Jaspal Rana will continue as my coach, says Manu Bhaker

Manu Bhaker eyes World Championship glory with Jaspal Rana as coach despite his new role with NRAI.

Eyeing glory in next World Championship, 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).

Rana, a four-time Asian Games gold medallist, had a very bitter and public fallout with Manu before the Tokyo Olympics but they reconciled before last year's Paris Games, where the latter made history by bagging two bronze medals.

"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.

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.

Talking about her future plans, Manu said: "We will be going for World Cups in April, and then we have some domestic competitions in June.