Ticket collector like Dhoni, son of female sarpanch makes rare Olympic final

Swapnil Kusale, the first Indian shooter to reach the 50m rifle three positions final at the Olympics, draws inspiration from M S Dhoni, as he too is a railway ticket collector like the cricket icon was, early in his career. The 29-year-old from Kambalwadi village near Kolhapur in Maharashtra has been competing in international events since 2012, but he had to wait another 12 years to make his Olympics debut at the Paris Games.

Being calm and patient are pre-requisites for a shooter and those two traits are also the hallmark of Dhoni's personality. It is therefore no surprise that Kusale relates to Dhoni's life story.

He has watched the biopic of the World Cup winner multiple times and hopes to match the lofty achievements of the champion cricketer. A top-three finish in the 50m rifle three positions final here on Thursday would certainly put Kusale in the list of high achieves in Indian sport.

"I don't follow anyone specific in the shooting world. Outside of that, 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," Kusale told PTI shortly after finishing seventh in a tightly contest qualification here.

Kusale has been working for Central Railways since 2015. His two rivals from Czech Republic also shot 590 but the Indian had the most inner 10s -- 38 -- compared to Jiri Privratsky and Petr Nymbursky, who sealed the eighth and last qualification spot.

He also doesn't have to look too far beyond home for inspiration. His father and brother are teachers in a district school while mother is the sarpanch of Kambalwadi village. The fancied Aishwary Pratap Tomar ended 11th with a total of 589 in a session topped by China's Liu Yukun.

Kusale did not know about his classification in the final until his coach told him that. He shot 197 in prone, 195 in standing and as much in kneeling. "Every shot is a new shot. I was just trying to be patient. The whole match I had the same mindset. Just shoot with patience. At the back of the mind, you are thinking about your scores but it is better if you don't," said Kusale.

The job is half done in his debut Games and Kusale is fully aware of that. Manu Bhaker's unprecedented two medals here has also provided an extra dose of motivation. "It has been a great experience so far. I love shooting and I am glad that I have been able to do it for so long. Seeing Manu do well gives us a lot of confidence. If she can do it, we can do it too," said Kusale.

National coach Manoj Kumar Ohlyan was tracking Kusale's progress from a distance and he is bullish about his chances in the final. "He is in a good frame of mind. We are hoping for the best. We just want him to perform the way he did today. He was patient. He is good technically and physically," added Ohlyan.