Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale, who came to the range on an empty stomach after controlling his racing heartbeat, made a brilliant comeback by maintaining focus and got the country its first bronze medal in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions in the Olympics. Swapnil told that he had gone to participate in the event after drinking only one black tea and after winning the medal, his stomach started grumbling. Swapnil, who was seventh in the qualification, scored 451 in the final of eight shooters. Scored 4 and secured third position. At one time he was in sixth position after which he achieved third position.
This is India’s third bronze medal in Paris Olympics. Earlier, Manu Bhakar had won bronze in women’s 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event with Sarabjot Singh. For the first time in India’s Olympic history, shooters have won three medals in the same Games. After winning the medal, Kusale said, ‘I had not eaten anything and my stomach was gurgling. I drank black tea and came here. I pray to God the night before every match.
‘Somehow controlled the breathing’
He said, ‘Today the heart was beating very fast. I controlled my breathing and did not try to do anything different. At this level all players are the same. China’s Liu Yukun (463.6) won the gold medal and Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish (461.3) won the silver medal. The last time an Indian shooter reached the final in the 50m rifle 50m rifle at the London Olympics was when Joydeep Karmakar finished fourth in the 50m rifle prone. Now this event is not in the Olympics.
Kusale said, ‘I didn’t even see the scoreboard. This was my years of hard work and this was all I was thinking about. I wanted the Indian supporters to keep cheering me. Like his idol cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, TC Kusale was at fourth position in Railways after the first standing series. His first shot in kneeling was 9.6 but he made a great comeback.
Kusale made a strong comeback
After this, he reached the second position by scoring 10.6 and 10.3 but the next two shots were 9.1 and 10.1, due to which he came to the fourth position. Then by scoring 10.3 he reached third place and remained till the end. He was sixth after kneeling position but dropped to fifth after prone. He said, ‘I do not go for railway work. Indian Railways has given me 365 days leave so that I can play well for the country. My personal coach Deepali Deshpande is like my mother who helped me unconditionally. I haven’t even talked to my mother yet.
