New Delhi: Veteran sports administrator and former India shooter Raja Randhir Singh passed away at his residence here on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 79.
Singh is survived by his wife Vinita and daughters Mahima, Sunaina, and Rajeshwari.
Born in 1946 into the royal family of the erstwhile Patiala state in Punjab, Randhir Singh first carved a name for himself as one of India's finest shooters.
He became the first Indian to win an Asian Games gold medal in men's trap at the 1978 Bangkok Games.
He also won silver in the team event and then an individual bronze at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.
He participated in five Olympics, from 1968 to 1984.
Randhir Singh turned to sports administration as he was finishing as a shooter, playing a pivotal role in shaping India's Olympic movement during his nearly four-decade long association in various capacities in Indian and international sports bodies.
Singh served as secretary general of the Indian Olympic Association from 1987 to 2012.
He was secretary general of the Olympic Council of Asia from 1991 to 2015 and was its president (2024-2026), before stepping down early this year due to failing health.
When OCA faced a governance crisis before the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Randhir Singh was chosen as acting president of the continental body to help oversee the Games.
In 2024, he became the first Indian president of OCA at its General Assembly in New Delhi.
Randhir Singh was International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from 2001 to 2014, and was later made an honorary member.
With a gentle and affable personality, Randhir Singh was for long the international face of Indian sports administration and respected in the fraternity.
IOC president Kristy Coventry condoled Singh's death.
Tributes poured from the Indian sporting fraternity.
