Shooter Swapnil Kusale: A hit, miss and the big 2024 target

The rifle 3 position shooter finished fourth at the Cairo world championships, but the disappointment turned to joy when he realised he had earned a quota spot for the Paris Olympics

A score of 8.2 in his last shot left Swapnil Kusale devastated at the recent world championships in Cairo. Till then the rifle 3 position shooter had a medal within his grasp. Instead, he ended fourth. He returned to his seat with his head hung when India coach Thomas Farnik told him, “It’s okay. We have got an Olympic quota.”

In the heat of an intense match in Cairo, Kusale didn't realise he had ensured India a berth for the Paris Olympics (SAI Media Twitter)

In the heat of an intense match, Kusale didn't realise he had ensured India a berth for the Paris Olympics. “I went totally blank after the final shot. I was thinking, ‘what have I done’. I went with only one target--to win a medal at the world championships--and I frittered away after being so close,” says Kusale. “It made me happy when I got to know about the Olympic quota. I am figuring out what went wrong in the last shot; in my next match, I will rectify the error.”

Trust Kusale to learn from his mistake and move forward with Paris Olympics in his sight. For someone who made his mark in 2015 when he beat stalwarts Gagan Narang and Chain Singh to win his first nationals title, it has been a long road to a successful transition. Kusale’s journey has been about steady progress with years of hard work and a tough training regimen.

He was in the hunt for an Olympic berth for the 2016 Rio Olympics as well. When Tokyo came around, Kusale pitched himself into contention for a berth with quota winners Aishwarya Pratap Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput following impressive results in the domestic trials. The big breakthrough in Cairo, therefore, was sweet redemption.

“After missing selection for Tokyo, I made changes in my shooting. I am a totally different person now. The most important thing I focused on was to have a strong mind and not lose confidence when scores are low.

“Since the pandemic I have worked hard physically. I weighed 80kg during lockdown. I have lost around 10kg and worked on every part of my body so that I have better control.”

The hard work helped when Kusale was selected for the Baku World Cup this year. Even that was by a stroke of luck as two shooters initially selected pulled out. Kusale cashed in and won silver in the 50m rifle 3 position for his first individual ISSF World Cup medal. He also won silver in the team event and gold in the mixed team event.

“Baku was a breakthrough tournament for me. It helped that we had a very good team atmosphere and bonding and build-up were so good. When you enter a match in a positive space, the performance is good.”

He had his first brush with shooting when his father, a village school teacher, enrolled him in Krida Prabhodini, the Maharashtra government sports academy, in 2008. When it came to picking a sport, Kusale chose shooting as it impressed him during the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune that year.

After trying out the air rifle and prone events. Kusale picked up rifle 3 position–the most demanding of the shooting events–in 2014. He immediately made a mark at the junior level becoming Asian junior champion the next year. Former international Deepali Deshpande guided him from his junior days in the national squad. All these years, Kusale has been consistent, never dropping out of the top five at home.

“He is a very uncomplicated shooter who knows his game very well. His focus is always on technique and execution. He was unfortunate to miss out of the team for a few big events like the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. Now, winning a quota for the country will surely take him to a higher level," Deshpande said.