Munich World Cup: Paris medallist Swapnil Kusale adds 10m air rifle to his repertoire; says need to strengthen his standing position

New Delhi: India’s ace shooter Swapnil Kusale is set to return to competitive action for the first time since his historic bronze medal-winning performance at the Paris Olympics. He will take part in the forthcoming ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Munich, Germany, scheduled for the first week of June.Kusale did not participate in the Argentina and Peru legs of the World Cups due to not-so-impressive scores at the national selection trials. However, the 29-year-old’s name has been included in India’s 23-member contingent for the Munich WC, where the Kolhapur marksman will compete in his pet 50m rifle three positions event.

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“I am starting my international season with Munich. The preparations are good. I have worked on certain aspects of my technique, especially shooting during the standing position.

I have also fixed some issues with my rifle and brought a new gear set. I didn’t travel to the last two legs of the WCs because I wanted to shoot some really good scores before getting picked in the Indian team,” Kusale told TOI on Thursday.Kusale, who made history as the first Indian shooter to secure a medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3P at the Paris Games, said he wants yo participate in the 10m air rifle category as well to enhance his future medal prospects.

He has commenced training under the guidance of coach Deepali Deshpande, a former shooter and Asian Games medallist.“I used to compete in the 10m air rifle during my junior days. But then I stopped to focus on the 50m rifle 3P category. With an aim to win a medal at the Paris Olympics, which I eventually did, the effort was to train for only one event. But now I believe the time has come to start competing in both events (50m rifle 3P and 10m air rifle) simultaneously.

My coach (Deepali) has already started imparting coaching to me. Competing in the 10m air rifle event will also help strengthen my standing position, which I have realised I need to work on.

I am good at prone and kneeling. The air rifle will help me improve my standing aspect,” he said.The Arjuna awardee indicated his intention to professionally compete in the 10m air rifle at the forthcoming ‘Shooting League of India’ (SLI), scheduled from Nov 20-Dec 2 here.“After returning from the Munich WC, I’ll plan out my training schedule with the coach. The effort will be to start competing in both from the shooting league. It’s a busy calendar year for us, leading up to the Asian Games in 2026. I want to win as many medals for India as possible… so adding the 10m air rifle to my repertoire seems a logical decision. It’s very precise and the equation is totally different when compared to 50m rifle 3P,” said Kusale, who works as an OSD in the Maharashtra govt’s sports department.

Shooting league logo launched

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Thursday officially launched the logo for the inaugural edition of the shooting league at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range here.The unveiling saw Paris Olympics medallists Swapnil Kusale and Sarabjot Singh, and a host of other Indian shooters, including Arjun Babuta, Elavenil Valarivan, Sandeep Singh, Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil, Ashi Chouksey, Chain Singh, Arjun Singh Cheema, Palak, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, Akhil Sheoran and Rahi Sarnobat. All these shooters are part of the Indian contingent for the Munich WC.