On day six of the Paris Olympics, the Indian shooting team continued their impressive medal haul, with Swapnil Kusale securing a bronze medal in the men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions event, scoring 451.4. China’s Liu Yukun claimed gold with a score of 463.6, while Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish took silver with 461.3.
This marks India’s third bronze medal at the Paris Games. Manu Bhaker opened India’s medal count with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event, followed by another bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, won by Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh.
Notably, this is the first time India has won three shooting medals in a single Olympics. Previously, Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar won bronze and silver, respectively, at the 2012 London Games.
Kusale was in fifth place after the kneeling and prone-position rounds, with a score of 310.1.
He maintained a top-four position during the standing position elimination round, ultimately earning the bronze medal.
The 28-year-old was also part of the 50m 3P men’s team that won gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Kusale is the first Indian to qualify for an Olympic final in the men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions and is now the first to win an Olympic medal in the event.
Among the 44 shooters in the qualifying round, Swapnil secured the seventh spot with a score of 590, while Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar narrowly missed the final, finishing 11th.
The Indian athletes won seven medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was their best medal haul ever, and are on their way to winning many more medals than seven.
With three medals in the bag, we have high hopes for medals from various other events like archery, badminton, hockey, wrestling, sailing, athletics, etc.