Legendary shooting coach Sunny Thomas passes away at 84

Sunny Thomas, the former Indian national shooting coach who played a pivotal role in shaping the golden era of Indian shooting, passed away on Wednesday in Kottayam following a cardiac arrest. He was 84. Thomas is survived by his wife KJ Josamma and three children — Manoj Sunny, Sanil Sunny and Sonia Sunny.
Serving as India’s shooting coach from 1993 to 2012, Thomas oversaw some of the nation’s most historic moments in the sport, including Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics — India’s first in Olympic shooting — and Abhinav Bindra’s iconic gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, which was India’s first individual Olympic gold medal.
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A recipient of the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 2001, Thomas was revered not only for his coaching acumen but also for his leadership, mentorship, and administrative reforms. Under his stewardship, India consolidated its shooting disciplines and nurtured a generation of world-class marksmen, including Vijay Kumar, Jaspal Rana, Samaresh Jung, and Gagan Narang.
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Abhinav Bindra paid tribute to him on social media, calling him a “mentor, guide, and father figure.” He credited Thomas for laying the foundation of India’s rise in global shooting, particularly in his formative years.

NRAI president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo described his passing as “a void which Indian Shooting will find very difficult to fill,” hailing his selfless contributions and legacy.

Before coaching, Thomas was an English lecturer at St. Stephen's College in Uzhavoor and was a champion shooter himself during the 1970s. Despite his national acclaim, he often expressed regret over not being able to nurture a top-level shooter from his home state of Kerala.