Paris Olympics 2024: Bronze Medal Winners Manu Bhaker Sarabjot Singh & Swapnil Kusali Trained At Shooting Range Of MP’s Capital Bhopal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): India is praised for securing three bronze medals at the Paris Olympics 2024. Notably, all the three medals have been won by the shooters - Manu Bhaker (2), Sarabjot Singh (1) and Swapnil Kusali (1) - who were trained in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal.

According to information, Bhopal Shooting range is the only range in India equipped with a complete setup for practising the sport. The equipment is from the Italian company, Sius. The medal-bearing Indian shooter continued their practice at this city's advanced shooting range before departing for Paris.

Equipment similar to those at Olympics

Each Sius machine costs around 4 lakh rupees and the Bhopal range boasts ten of them. These are the same machines used in the final shooting range at the Paris Olympics. Additionally, the range features expensive and state-of-the-art software. This is why rifle shooters had their camp from July 7 to 14, and pistol shooters from July 14 to 20 in Bhopal.

Range built 2 years ago

The final range at the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy was built two years ago, costing 50 crore rupees. While the academy already had advanced air-conditioned ranges for 10, 25, and 50 meters, the final range was constructed in March 2022 for the Shooting World Cup. The Madhya Pradesh government invested significantly in this facility.

Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Vishwas Sarang emphasized that they will continue to modernize and expand these facilities, allowing more athletes to utilize them and win medals for the country.

Swapnil qualified for Olympics after March 2024

Bhopal has been particularly fortunate for shooter Swapnil, who was not part of the Olympic team until March. It was during the final trials at Bhopal's shooting range that he qualified for the Olympics. The camps for rifle and pistol shooters held in Bhopal resulted in medals, while the shotgun camp held in Italy has yet to yield any medals.

Medals in shooting since 2004

Shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was the one who won the first Silver medal in shooting in 2004 at Olympics Athens. He triggered a turn of events that saw four other Indians ended up with a medal at the Summer Games.