Olympics 2024: Swapnil Kusale becomes first Indian to qualify for 50m 3P final

Indian shooter Swapnil Kusale became the first-ever Indian to qualify for the finals of 50m rifle 3 positions after finishing seventh in the qualification round on Wednesday.

The other Indian shooter in contention, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished 11th in the qualification and exited the event.

Kusale shot 198 (99, 99) in the kneeling position, 197 (98, 99) in the prone and 195 (98, 97) in a standing position as the top eight shooters in a field of 44 made it to the final round.

Kusale finished with an overall score of 590 (38x), while Tomar accumulated 589 (33x) with shots of 197 (98, 99) in kneeling position, 199 (100, 99) in prone and 193 (95, 98) in standing position.

The finals of the 50m rifle 3 positions will be held on Thursday.

China’s Liu Yukun finished at the first spot with a total of 594 points, followed by Norway’s Jon-Hermann Hegg in second with 593.

The third place went to Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish with 592 points while France's Lucas Kryzs (592-35x) was fourth, Serbia’s Lazar Kovacevic (592-33x) was fifth and Tomasz Bartnik (590-40x) of Poland was sixth.

Jiri Privratsky of the Czech Republic took the last place in the finals with 590 (35x).

Throughout the qualification, Aishwary was in a good position but a poor standing round where he shot 95 cost him the qualification. If he had made it to the final, it would have been the first event of the Paris Olympics where would have two representations.

In the team event for 50m rifle 3 positions during the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year, Kusale and Tomar, along with Akhil Sheoran, won the gold medal.

Kusale, who trains under Tejaswini Sawant in Kolhapur, had finished fourth in the Asian Games last year in the 50m rifle 3 positions.