Mairaj Ahmad Khan

Mairaj Ahmed Khan
Mairaj Ahmad Khan at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Personal information
National teamIndia
Born (1975-11-02) 2 November 1975
Khurja, Bulandshahar, India
EducationJamia Millia Islamia
OccupationSkeet Shooter
Years active2003-present
Spouse
Zarah Ali Khan
Sport
CountryIndia
SportSports shooting
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals2
World finals3
National finals11
Commonwealth finals1

Mairaj Ahmed Khan (born 2 November 1975, in Khurja) is an Indianskeet shooter and two-time Olympian.[1][2] Khan was the first Indian skeet shooter to qualify for the Olympics when he qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2015;[3] he also competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.[4] He has won gold at the ISSF World Shooting Championships,[5][6][7] the Commonwealth Shooting Championships,[6][2] and the Asian Shooting Championships.[2] In 2021, Sportstar reported that Khan was ranked #24 in the world in skeet.[8]

Early life

Khan was born on 2 November 1975 to Ilyas Ahmed and his wife in Khurja, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India.[3][9][10][2] The family are affluent Kheshgi and Sunni Muslims.[11] Khan's father, uncles, and brother Najam were all state-level trap shooters but none of them pursued it professionally.[5][3] Khan has two other siblings, Siraj and Farheen.

As a child, Khan was very interested in cricket and played as a top order batsman. He was eventually named skipper of Uttar Pradesh's U-19 team in the 1990s.[3][7] At age 10, he placed third in a U-12 50-metre rifle competition and used his prize money to buy a cricket bat. He eventually decided not to pursue cricket professionally and instead turned to skeet shooting after college.[3] Khan also has a Masters degree. Now he is happily married to Zarah Ali Khan, a renowned name in the Travel&Aviation Industry, she also used to pursue trap shooting . [2]

Career

Khan's first international competition was the 2003 ISSF World Cup in Lonato, Italy.[5][10] He has participated in a number of regional, national, and world competitions, including the ISSF World Shooting Championships, (2000, 2003, 2005-2011, 2013-2016, 2021)[6][7][5][2]Commonwealth Shooting Championships (2010),[6][2]Commonwealth Games (2010, 2014),[7][12][2]Asian Games (2006, 2010, 2014),[13][2][14]Asian Shooting Championships (2004, 2007-2009, 2011-2014, 2016-2017, 2019),[2] and the South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (2009).

In 2016, Khan became the first ever Indian skeet shooter to qualify for the Olympics.[6][15][9][3][16][17] At the Rio Olympics, he finished in 9th place.[18][4] He also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and finished 25th.[4] In 2022 in Changwon, South Korea, he became the first Indian skeet shooter to win a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup.[19][20] This came as a surprise to Khan, who almost quit shooting after his father's 2021 death.[4]

His coaches throughout his career have included Andrea Benelli,[2]Sunny Thomas,[2]Ennio Falco,[21] and Riccardo Filippelli.[19] Khan also runs an NGO called MAK Shooting Foundation, which trains future shooting talent.[10] He coached Angad Vir Singh Bajwa.[22]

Medals

MedalDateEventPlaceRef
1st place, gold medalist(s)2007National Shooting Championship CompetitionDelhi, India
1st place, gold medalist(s)Singapore Open Shooting Championship (team)Singapore
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Singapore Open Shooting Championship (individual)
2nd place, silver medalist(s)National Games of IndiaGuwahati, India
1st place, gold medalist(s)2008Singapore Open Shooting Championship (team)Singapore
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Singapore Open Shooting Championship (individual)
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Master's Shooting ChampionshipPatiala, India
1st place, gold medalist(s)2009National Shooting Championship CompetitionIndia
1st place, gold medalist(s)All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting ChampionshipJammu, India
2nd place, silver medalist(s)South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (team)Dhaka, Bangladesh
2nd place, silver medalist(s)South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (individual)
1st place, gold medalist(s)2010National Shooting Championship CompetitionIndia
1st place, gold medalist(s)Commonwealth Shooting Championships (pairs)New Delhi, India[3][6][7]
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Commonwealth Shooting Championships (individual)[6]
1st place, gold medalist(s)2011Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships (team)Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia[3][5]
2nd place, silver medalist(s)National Games of IndiaRanchi, India
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)National Shooting Championship CompetitionDelhi, India
1st place, gold medalist(s)2012All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting ChampionshipDelhi, India
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships
2nd place, silver medalist(s)2014National Shooting Championship CompetitionPatiala, India
2nd place, silver medalist(s)2015National Games of IndiaKerala, India
1st place, gold medalist(s)2016National Shooting Championship CompetitionJaipur, India[23]
2nd place, silver medalist(s)ISSF World Shooting ChampionshipsRio de Janeiro, Brazil[6][19][5][2]
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Asian Shotgun Shooting ChampionshipsAbu Dhabi, UAE[24][5][2]
2nd place, silver medalist(s)2019National Shotgun ChampionshipTughlakabad, India[25]
2nd place, silver medalist(s)Asian Shooting ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar[5][2]
1st place, gold medalist(s)2021ISSF World CupNew Delhi, India[5][2]
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Cairo, Egypt[2]
1st place, gold medalist(s)2022Digvijay Singh Memorial Shooting ChampionshipDelhi, India[26]
1st place, gold medalist(s)ISSF World CupChangwon, South Korea[4][2]
1st place, gold medalist(s)National Shooting Championship CompetitionTughlakabad, India[27]

References

  1. ^"Aiming high at Beijing". The Indian Express. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  2. ^ abcdefghijklmnopqr"Mairaj Ahmad KHAN". ISSF. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. ^ abcdefgh"Mairaj Ahmed Khan buries 15 years of pain by clinching 2016 Rio Olympic quota in skeet". The Indian Express. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  4. ^ abcde""Sports authorities gave up on me": Mairaj Ahmad Khan writes profound note for industrialist Naveen Jindal after winning Gold medal at World Cup". Jantaka Reporter. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  5. ^ abcdefghi"Tokyo Olympics: Know Your Olympian – Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Men's Skeet". News18. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  6. ^ abcdefgh"Mairaj Ahmed Khan wins India's first skeet medal at a shooting World Cup". Zee News. 25 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  7. ^ abcdeSrinivasan, Kamesh. "Skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan: Better late than never". Sportstar. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  8. ^Srinivasan, Kamesh (19 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini take aim in women's 10m air pistol". SportStar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  9. ^ abSrinivasan, Kamesh (22 September 2015). "Mairaj determined to win an Olympic gold". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. ^ abcAshrafi, Muhammad Modassir (27 July 2022). "Shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan sacrifices family, friends in search of medal for India". India Blooms. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  11. ^"Meet Mairaj Ahmad Khan who becomes first Indian to get individual gold for self and nation in ISSF World Cup in men's Skeet". The Chenab Times. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  12. ^Mishra, Rashmi (23 July 2014). "Commonwealth Games 2014: Complete Schedule Of Indian Players At The CWG 2014". India.com. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  13. ^"Skeet shooters end without medal in Asian Games". The Indian Express. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  14. ^"Sleepless Mairaj Basking in Glory After World Cup Silver". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  15. ^"Mairaj Ahmed Khan's Italian connection clicks at Shooting World Cup with medal in Skeet". The Indian Express. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  16. ^"Mairaj Khan becomes first Indian skeet shooter to qualify for the Olympics". News18. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  17. ^"Indian skeet shooter Mairaj wins silver at World Cup". OnManorama. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  18. ^"Shooter Mairaj Ahmad fails to qualify for men's Skeet semis". India Today. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  19. ^ abcNair, Abhijit (17 September 2022). "Renewed technique, self-confidence – Mairaj Khan targets maiden podium at World Championships". The Bridge. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  20. ^Jha, Sumit (22 July 2022). "This win feels surreal, especially as I almost gave up shooting: Mairaj Ahmad Khan". Times of India. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  21. ^Srinivasan, Kamesh (21 May 2021). "Mairaj Ahmad Khan, aiming for the bull's eye with Ennio Falco". SportStar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  22. ^Srivastava, Shantanu (8 July 2021). "As Tokyo Olympics beckon, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa outgrows his obsession with perfection for bigger picture". FirstPost. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  23. ^"Shooting: Mairaj Ahmad Khan crowned national skeet champion". Scroll. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  24. ^"Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum shoots UAE to gold". Sport360. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  25. ^Srinivasan, Kamesh (29 November 2019). "National Shotgun Championship: Angad takes gold, silver for Mairaj". Sportstar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  26. ^"Mairaj Ahmad Khan snatches skeet gold". The Hindu. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  27. ^Srinivasan, Kamesh (9 December 2022). "Mairaj, Maheshwari win skeet titles at 65th National Shotgun Championship". SportStar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
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