Shooting Shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan sacrifices family, friends in search of medal for India
Indian shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan has created history by becoming the first Indian to win gold in skeet shooting in the final of the ISSF World Cup Rifle in Changwon, Korea.
Two-time Olympian and India’s shining star Khan won the country’s first individual gold medal.
He shot 119-125 in the men’s skeet in two days of qualifying before clinching the gold medal.
It was during the Tokyo Olympics, where Indian shooters performed better, that Khan emerged among the best shotgun shooters in India.
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Khan, 45, hails from an affluent family of landlords in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh.
His father, Ilyas Ahmad, was a state-level trap shooter.
Khan started taking interest in shooting after completing his college studies in the year 1998.
He made his international debut in the year 2003 during the ISSF World Cup in Lonato, Italy. Ranked 14th in the world for the year 2021, he was seen competing in the men’s skeet of the Tokyo Olympics.
Khan also represented India in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He became the first Indian skeet shooter to qualify for the Olympics.
Khan won a silver medal at the 2016 ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Delhi.
"I believe that whatever God does, he does it for the better. We work hard and prepare for the championships. Every player wants to give his best. But it all comes to that one day, when all the preparations, strategies, and mental strength is tested.
"All the players are of the same level, but only one has to win," Khan said.
"In order to participate in big events like the Olympics, you have to sacrifice a lot of things. Family, friendship, I left everything. Only shooting from home and back has been the routine for the last 25 years," he added.
Talking about challenges faced during Covid-19 pandemic, he says, "The training of players was greatly affected during the corona period. The pandemic has changed everything. But one advantage has also been that we have got more training time.
"Last time I got less time for the Olympics. Now that we can work on our training more closely, we have got more time for fitness too. I was very excited last time, the pressure was not so much for me last time, however, when I am under pressure, I perform better."
Interestingly, Khan was fond of cricket since childhood and joined Jamia’s cricket team.
But his uncle, seeing Khan’s eye contact and elbow angle, urged him to try shooting and since then he hasn’t looked back.
His passion turned towards shooting and winning a medal became his only target.
Apart from shooting, he runs an NGO named MAK Shooting Foundation.
As an athlete, Khan wanted to help and train budding shooters from India who are interested in taking skeet shooting.
Through his foundation, he aims to produce more shooters who can represent India in skeet shooting at international events.
He has published his autobiography named Hard Target.
(Muhammad Modassir Ashrafi, the author, is a Research Scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia)
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