It was a hard day for Indian sport on Wednesday when we lost Randhir Singh. The veteran administrator and shooter from New Delhi has died at 79. As the first to bring home an Asian Games shooting gold and a former head of the Olympic Council of Asia, he was the kind of figure who could span five Olympics and a lifetime of building up our institutions.
Tributes frame the loss
You don’t have to look far to see the outpouring of respect from the shooting and Olympic set in India. Rajiv Bhatia, with the National Rifle Association of India, put it in writing: a man like Singh, a true Olympian and Arjuna Awardee, has been a rare find in his contributions to the Olympic cause and to the sport itself.
Abhinav Bindra, the Olympic champion, put some of it into words on X: ‘Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Raja Randhir Singh ji. He made a life of sport – as an Olympian, as an administrator, as a force for good in Indian and World sport. His place in our history is secure. My heartfelt condolences to his family and those close to him.’
A breakthrough that reshaped Indian shooting
If there is one moment that stands out, it was in Bangkok back in ’78. Singh took the trap event and with it, the first ever shooting gold for India at the Asian Games. It was a win that put a new standard in front of every shooter in the country and got a whole generation moving.
And he had a way of staying in the game. To put in an appearance at five different Olympics is not something you come across often, in any sport, in any time.
From range to boardroom
When he put down the gun, Singh moved into the side of the house where he would be just as well-regarded. He was a fixture in the room as Secretary General of the Indian Olympic Association and a member of the IOC.
He even made it to the top of the continent, being put in as OCA President in 2024 for a four-year run. But with some health issues, he called it quits before two years were up.
Here are a few of the numbers and names that tell the story:
– OCA President (2024)
– Five-time Olympian for India
– 1978 Bangkok Asian Games, trap gold
– IOA Secretary General
– On the International Olympic Committee
Final days and confirmation
The NRAI has said that after a few days in the hospital, Singh made his way to his home where he passed. Bhatia put it this way: ‘We share with great sorrow that Raja Randhir Singh has left for his heavenly abode, today, 27th May 2026.’
'An irreparable loss,’ is how Bhatia put it for the NRAI and the rest of the shooting fraternity, along with our best wishes to his kin.
Why his passing matters
In a way, Singh’s path is the story of modern Indian sport. From a 1978 podium to the policy-making tables, he was there. You can see his hand in the way our shooters go about their business and aim for the bigger picture.
As we say goodbye, we also see the work he put in. There was a method to him – in his service, in his results, in his steadiness. Those are the things that will hold up the institutions he put in order, well past 27th May 2026.
