India, April 30 -- Former India shooting coach, Prof Sunny Thomas, who mentored many top shooters including Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra and pistol ace Jaspal Rana, died in Uzhavoor, Kerala on Wednesday. He was 83.

An English professor who became national shooting coach, the Dronacharya awardee was an excellent mentor who held the post for 19 years from 1993, a phase that saw the rise of two of India's brightest teenage shooting talents. Bindra became India's first individual Olympic champion at 2008 Beijing in 10m air rifle and Rana won multiple Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold medals. It was during his tenure that Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won double trap silver at the 2004 Athens Games to end the wait for India's first Olym...