Olympic bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale gets grand welcome

Kolhapur: A crowd of admirers, young and old, packed the streets of Kolhapur on Wednesday to cheer Olympic bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale, and shower him with petals as the ace shooter arrived in the city for the first time since winning the medal.A colourful procession was organised by the district administration from Chhatrapati Tararani Chowk to Dasara Chowk ground, where the Olympian was felicitated.Swapnil stood in a decorated forest department vehicle accompanied by his parents, Anita and Suresh Kusale, coach Deepali Deshpande and brother Suraj Kusale. Speaking to the media after the procession and felicitation, Swapnil Kusale said: "I am overwhelmed and honoured by the way people here have welcomed me. I am very thankful to them. Along with cricket, other sports are getting a good response from the people of Maharashtra and the nation. This is a good sign for the entire sports fraternity. If good facilities are provided for athletes, then we will get more accolades in the future.""I also learned that the shooting range at the divisional sports complex in Kolhapur is being equipped like an Olympic-level range. This will benefit budding shooters."Speaking about his future, Kusale said: "My aim to win an Olympic gold medal is yet to be achieved. I will work hard to fulfil my dream and make Kolhapur and India proud."Addressing other young sportspersons, Kusale said, "History is not created without madness." He then left for the Mahalaxmi temple. He was later to leave for Kambalwadi village in Radhanagari for another procession in his hometown.District guardian minister Hasan Mushrif, executive chairman of State Planning Commission Rajesh Kshirsagar, MP Shahu Chhatrapati, MPs Dhananjay Mahadik and Dhairyasheel Mane, MLC Satej Patil, MLAs Jayant Asgaonkar, Ruturaj Patil and Rajesh Patil, collector Amol Yedge, Kolhapur civic chief K Manjulekshmi, ZP chief executive officer S Karthikeyan, SP Mahendra Pandit and other personalities from various fields and sports enthusiasts also participated in the procession.Thousands of school students, sports enthusiasts, and citizens lined the roads to shower petals on Swapnil Kusale. Flower petals were also showered with the help of a helicopter on the occasion. Women dressed in traditional attires and riding decorated horses, lezim troupes and musicians playing dhols and haggis were part of the procession. Large garlands were offered to Swapnil Kusale with the help of cranes. Tricolour balloons, welcome arches and cutouts were put up to welcome the star Olympian. There were also loud chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai"