Swapnil Kusale: The Ticket Collector Who Shot India To Bronze In Olympics

Shooter Swapnil Kusale made history for India in Men's 50m Rifle 3P final at the Paris Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal for the first time in the event. While Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh combined to earn India two medals in shooting, Kusale added another medal to the tally, as shooters continued to fire for India at the quadrennial games. Swapnil had already made history by qualifying for the men's 50m rifle 3P final, becoming the first Indian to do so. While the entire India is singing praises of Swapnil, not many know that the shooter is actually an MS Dhoni fan, and has been a ticket-collector in the past himself.

Who is Swapnil Kusale?

draws inspiration from MS Dhoni as he too is a railway ticket collector like the cricket icon was early in his career. The 29-year-old from Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra has been competing in international events since 2012 but he had to wait another 12 years to make his Olympics debut at the Paris Games.

Being calm and patient are pre-requisites for a shooter and those two traits are also the hallmark of Dhoni's personality. It is therefore no surprise that Kusale relates to Dhoni's life story.

He has watched the biopic of the World Cup winner multiple times and hopes to match the lofty achievements of the champion cricketer.

A top-three finish in the 50m rifle three positions final here on Thursday would certainly put Kusale in the list of high achieves in Indian sport.

"I don't follow anyone specific in the shooting world. Outside of that, I admire Dhoni for the person that he is. My sport requires me to be as calm and patient as he is on the field. I also relate to his story as I am a ticket collector like he was," Kusale told PTI shortly after finishing seventh in a tightly contest qualification here.

Kusale has been working for Central Railways since 2015.

His two rivals from Czech Republic also shot 590 but the Indian had the most inner 10s -- 38 -- compared to Jiri Privratsky and Petr Nymbursky, who sealed the eighth and last qualification spot.

He also doesn't have to look too far beyond home for inspiration. His father and brother are teachers in a district school while mother is the sarpanch of Kambalwadi village.

The fancied Aishwary Pratap Tomar ended 11th with a total of 589 in a session topped by China's Liu Yukun.

Kusale did not know about his classification in the final until his coach told him that. He shot 197 in prone, 195 in standing and as much in kneeling.

"Every shot is a new shot. I was just trying to be patient. The whole match I had the same mindset. Just shoot with patience. At the back of the mind, you are thinking about your scores but it is better if you don't," said Kusale.

With PTI Inputs