The MS Dhoni Connection In Swapnil Kusale’s Olympic Success

New Delhi: Manu Bhaker has been a familiar name in Indian sports for several years. Sarabjot Singh, too, is a competitor that our shooting fraternity was quietly confident about.

Both delivered at the Paris Olympics, with Manu delivering a double-medal.

But Swapnil Kusale?

Who would have expected the Olympic debutant to have landed India a third bronze medal in Paris, that too, the country’s first ever in the 50m rifle three position?

Even when he reached the final by finishing seventh in the qualification round on Wednesday, few counted on him on a podium finish.

Well, the Olympic debutant had other ideas at the Chateauroux shooting range on Thursday.

Swapnil’s journey and road to glory have been quite an inspiration, and nothing short of spectacular.

And it was India’s legendary cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni that Swapnil drew inspiration from.

Like Dhoni, Swapnil was a railway ticket collector in the early phase of his career.

And like Captain Cool, Swapnil displayed calmness and patience – which are important pre-requisites for a shooter, especially in tight situations.

Languishing in 6th place at the end of the first kneeling round, Swapnil kept his nerve and sealed bronze with 451.4 points.

The 28-year-old Pune-born Swapnil easily relates to Dhoni’s life story, having watched the biopic of the two-time World Cup winner several times.

“I don’t follow anyone specific in the shooting world. Otherwise, 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,” Swapnil told PTI.

A Central Railways employee since 2015, Swapnil was born in a family with an agricultural background. His father enrolled him in Maharashtra government’s primary programme dedicated to sports, Krida Prabhodini. After a year’s hardcore physical training, Swapnil chose shooting in 2009, and was taken under the fold of Lakshya Sports in 2013.

Even though has been competing in international events since 2012, Swapnil has been a late bloomer.

He won gold in Asian Games team event last year, gold in mixed team event in World Cup and bronze in World Championship team event.

He was one of the first Indian shooters to earn an Olympic quota, in Cairo in 2022.

Swapnil didn’t waste that quota. And now, he’s a household name. Like Manu Bhaker.