Kottayam, April 30 -- Sunny Thomas, former coach of the Indian national shooting team and a Dronacharya awardee, passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age of 84 on Wednesday.

As per the Olympics.com, Sunny, who served as the national coach for almost two decades, died at his residence in Uzhavoor in Kottayam, Kerala. He was a crucial figure in the rise of Indian shooting to the global stage in recent times. Thomas's stint as India's coach spanned from 1993 to 2012.

The biggest highlight of this period was Abhinav Bindra's historic gold medal win in the men's 10 m air rifle event during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which was the country's first-ever individual Olympic gold medal.

"Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Prof. Sunn...