Chateauroux: Manu Bhaker and Jaspal Rana follow a peculiar practice in training. For every shooting session, a particular target in terms of a score is set. If Manu doesn’t achieve it, a fine equivalent to the deficit in points is fixed, in the currency of the country they’re based at.

“For example,” Manu says, “if the target is 582 and you score 578, it means you give 40 euros, depending on the situation. You either donate that amount or purchase things and distribute it to people. At almost every training session, this is the rule. And at times, he increases the intensity quite a lot, to like 400 euros.”

Manu jokes that the maximum she has spent on this exercise is an amount (so large, assumingly) we wouldn’t want to know. On a serious note, this is a glimpse into how distinct Rana’s way of functioning as a coach can get.

“Usually our training together is very difficult, be it on the technical part or things like this. His working method is very different from anyone else.”

One that Manu is ready to buy into. And it perhaps explains why she lost a bit of direction, and plenty of love for shooting, during the time they weren’t up to such things. The two had a bitter public fallout in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games, and for a couple of years did not speak. A sign of her growing maturity — or desperation, depending on how one looks at it — was Manu calling up Rana again.

Back came this straight-speaking coach into the picture, and off went Manu towards redeeming herself, Rana and their combination. The first thing Rana did after getting back was to make her believe she was destined for bigger things, and remove the clutter from her mind. The trust took some time to rebuild, but once Rana knew “it was an honest effort from her side” to reach out, he had no reason to believe Manu wasn’t ambitious in her goals either.

The training nitty-gritties also took care of itself with Rana back in the fold. The two dashed off to Europe after the camp in Bhopal in June, with Manu skipping the Munich World Cup. In Luxembourg, just before they came to Chateauroux, Rana made her train in conditions that replicated the warm temperatures inside the ranges here.

“He made training so difficult for me that when it came to performing, it wasn’t very difficult for me. He played a huge role in the medal. All those years of hard work that we have put in together paid off with his, and probably even more,” Manu said.

Rana, an emotional man who shed tears even when Manu secured qualification on Saturday, said his passion for the sport is matched by Manu’s dedication.

“I can’t even begin to explain the kind of things we’ve been through,” Rana said. “But sometimes those setbacks help you push to greater things. She is the one person who I know can push her limits. She sometimes follows routines better than me, and I used to think I’m good at that.

“It’s been a great journey, and I’m happy for her. I was very happy with this bronze, and there is more to come.”