Coach Jaspal Rana thinks of himself as a father figure to star Indian shooter and Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker. Manu Bhaker looks at him as her protector and mentor. 

The coach and athlete share a close bond with each other which has led to India and Bhaker getting a medal in the sport. The two have absolutely different personalities but the way they come together on the shooting range, they are able to extract medals with the blink of an eye to one another. 

Bhaker Full Of Praises For Coach

While speaking to PTI, Manu Bhaker and Japsal Rana came together to talk about their journey.  

"I would say he's like a father to me and it's a matter of trust that you put in a person," said the 22-year-old Bhaker flashing a radiant smile and content look.

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"He gives me a lot of courage whenever I feel, whether I can do it or not," she went on even as Rana kept his head down.

"He will probably slap me and he'll be like 'you can do it, you trained for it'." It was at this point that Rana joined the conversation, a tad surprised by what Bhaker had just uttered.

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"You have a controversy right here," he interjected.

“I mean it's not like a slap (literally) but like, I'm just using a slang. It's like he'll push my limits. He'll be like 'you've been training for this and obviously you will be able to deliver.” The coach and athlete then shared a laugh with each other.  

Trying To Erase The Memory Of Tokyo Olympics

The Tokyo Olympics had been a massive diaster for Manu Bhaker as her weapon had malfunctioned during the qualification stages. A year back Bhaker and Rana got together to erase the painful memory of 2020. 

"When we started 14 months back, there was only one request from my side to her: that we will not discuss the past. We'll start from here and we'll move forward. So we kept that thing throughout," 

"My work is to protect her. It is not only coaching. At this level, we cannot teach them how to see or how to pull the trigger. We just need to give that protection even from their own self," he explained.

"Sometimes it (performances, attention) goes to your head and you're all over the place. So, to keep them grounded and keep them protected, that's our job, the coach's job," he asserted as Bhaker nodded in agreement.

Bhaker when speaking about Tokyo said, "I would like to say about Tokyo that there was nobody to blame...it's in the past already. Tokyo taught me a lot of things to be prepared in a better manner, more aware of everything, my equipment, my mental health, physical health." 

"I would say, it really made me sad at times. I was on the verge of giving up shooting at times, but then I was, Ok, 'what else would you do'," she remembered.

"When we (Jaspal and I) started to work together again, that was the time when I was like 'you know what, shooting is going to be it for me'," she said.

"We were like 'let's go all in it'. The journey was not easy but I think everything happens for a reason and as he (Jaspal) says 'you get what you deserve, not what you want'."

Bhaker And Lady Sri Ram College 

Her shooting aside, Bhaker is also quite proud of her academic achievements. She scored upwards of 90 per cent in most of her subjects in 12th standard and also qualified for Tokyo Olympics around the same time.

For this balance too, she gives some credit to Rana, who, along with her brother, persuaded her to pick the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi University for her graduation, outrightly rejecting her plan of going for an online course.

"He (Rana) and my brother, both were so persistent that 'you must have your degree from his college even if you do not get the kind of time that you require to study and pass the exams (with high marks). We will try to help you with the assignments'," Bhaker said.

And having managed to log good scores both with her pistol and her books, Bhaker said she would advise every budding athlete to do the same.

"It should go hand in hand because, personally, for me I think it has played a major role." The importance of education was one thing on which Rana and Bhaker were on the same page wholeheartedly.

Rana even went to the extent of saying that he refuses to train youngsters who drop out of school to pursue only shooting.

"...you won't last forever, so whenever you give up (sports), then you have to have something (to fall back upon). I make sure they (my wards) are studying . I don't take any kids who have left school or those who don't want to study further. I don't even train with them," he said.

Bhaker chimed in to reveal that Rana has been pushing her to do a course of her choice from the recently-inaugurated Nalanda University, a great centre of learning in the fifth century before being destroyed by invaders 700 years later.

Asked what would be her subject of choice, the former political science student said,"...I am open to anything. You give me a subject, in probably 2-3 months I'll get used to it. I will make my peace with it." But it would certainly not be maths. She admitted to being bad at it and Rana took the opportunity to tease her for it.

"She doesn't even remember the points she is winning or losing (in a match), so that's the best thing," he quipped, evoking a laugh from her too, doing his other job of keeping her grounded to perfection.