Swapnil Kusale's Paris Olympics Success: A Hard Work of a Decade by Him and Coach Deepali Deshpande

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More than a decade-long bonding between rifle coach Deepali Deshpande and rifle shooter Swapnil Kusale finally bore fruit in a bronze medal at the Chateauroux shooting ranges at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

The 28-year-old shooter, who missed out on an Olympic berth on the last two attempts, finally cracked the code for an Olympic medal on debut at the big stage. And the effort wasn't possible without some last-minute tip by his coach sitting in India.

Last week a long-distance call from Paris wasn't a surprise for Deepali, a former international shooter and now a coach. The Mumbai-based rifle coach was quick to respond as the call was from Kusale, who has been under her tutelage since 2013. It was a different matter Deepali wasn't among the coaching staff for the Paris Olympic Games.

Deepali was more surprised as Kusale faced some technical issues during kneeling position, which was his forte. Kneeling, prone and standing are three positions in which competitors have to shoot.

"It was a bit worrisome as the kneeling position was Kusale's strength. But we discussed the issue and it was sorted out," Deepali revealed.

On Thursday the 28-year-old rifle shooter from Kolhapur district Maharashtra etched his name in Indian shooting history by winning a bronze medal, a first in the men's 50m rifle 3 position at Chateauroux shooting ranges near Paris.

Kusale scored 451.4 in the final while in the qualification round he shot 590 out of possible 600 to finish seventh. The top eight shooters compete in the medal round.
It was Kusale's first medal and India's third as pistol shooter Manu Bhaker won individual bronze in women's 10m air pistol and she paired with Sarabjot Singh to win mixed 10m air pistol bronze.

According to Deepali, Kusale is a quiet person. "He usually prefers to stay away from the hustle and bustle of modern lifestyle," Deepali explained. "His off-the-field lifestyle mainly attributed to Kusale's staying focused during the high voltage final match at the Olympic Games."

Deepali had also advised Kusale to focus on his practice and steer away from controversies in the build-up to the Paris Olympic Games.

For the record during the pre-Olympic Games camp at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), the shooters complained about lack of proper accommodation. "We can only take care of things that are in our hands and shouldn't bother too much on trivial issues," was Deepali's last-minute advice to Kusale before he boarded the flight to Paris.

Kusale won the Paris Olympic Games quota at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo. He missed out on a medal in Cairo but finished fourth to win the quota place. Kusale had twice missed out on Olympic Games berths (2016 and 2020) but was determined to do well in Paris, the rifle coach added.

Bonding between the coach and her disciple

The coach and player association has been long. Deepali met Kusale during the junior national programme in 2013. Then Deepali was overseeing rifle events. The shooter has immense faith in his coach and often discusses issues after practice sessions.

"I'm not in the camp but still we discuss issues to clear doubts if any," Deepali added. "Shooting is an individual event. It is important to understand shooter both on and off the ranges."

Kusale, the elder son of a school teacher has been a product of Maharashtra's grassroot programme Kirda Prabhodini. He was active during school days and was fascinated by precision shooting during the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games held in Pune.

He was inducted into the national junior programme in 2013-2014 and smoothly graduated to senior level. He won the national 50m rifle 3 position title in 2015. Since then he has been one to watch in the event at the national level. But he missed out on both the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. But he worked extra hard to maintain his fitness during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I'm happy Kusale has finally delivered the goods at the right time," Deepali said with an air of confidence.