Mairaj Ahmad Khan
Personal information | |
---|---|
National team | India |
Born | Khurja, Bulandshahar, India | 2 November 1975
Education | Jamia Millia Islamia |
Occupation | Skeet Shooter |
Years active | 2003-present |
Spouse | Zarah Ali Khan |
Sport | |
Country | India |
Sport | Sports shooting |
Achievements and titles | |
Olympic finals | 2 |
World finals | 3 |
National finals | 11 |
Commonwealth finals | 1 |
Mairaj Ahmed Khan (born 2 November 1975, in Khurja) is an Indian skeet 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.[citation needed]
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).[citation needed]
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
Medal | Date | Event | Place | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | National Shooting Championship Competition | Delhi, India | ||
Singapore Open Shooting Championship (team) | Singapore | |||
Singapore Open Shooting Championship (individual) | ||||
National Games of India | Guwahati, India | |||
2008 | Singapore Open Shooting Championship (team) | Singapore | ||
Singapore Open Shooting Championship (individual) | ||||
All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Master's Shooting Championship | Patiala, India | |||
2009 | National Shooting Championship Competition | India | ||
All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting Championship | Jammu, India | |||
South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (team) | Dhaka, Bangladesh | |||
South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (individual) | ||||
2010 | National Shooting Championship Competition | India | ||
Commonwealth Shooting Championships (pairs) | New Delhi, India | [3][6][7] | ||
Commonwealth Shooting Championships (individual) | [6] | |||
2011 | Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships (team) | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | [3][5] | |
National Games of India | Ranchi, India | |||
National Shooting Championship Competition | Delhi, India | |||
2012 | All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting Championship | Delhi, India | ||
Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships | ||||
2014 | National Shooting Championship Competition | Patiala, India | ||
2015 | National Games of India | Kerala, India | ||
2016 | National Shooting Championship Competition | Jaipur, India | [23] | |
ISSF World Shooting Championships | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [6][19][5][2] | ||
Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships | Abu Dhabi, UAE | [24][5][2] | ||
2019 | National Shotgun Championship | Tughlakabad, India | [25] | |
Asian Shooting Championships | Doha, Qatar | [5][2] | ||
2021 | ISSF World Cup | New Delhi, India | [5][2] | |
Cairo, Egypt | [2] | |||
2022 | Digvijay Singh Memorial Shooting Championship | Delhi, India | [26] | |
ISSF World Cup | Changwon, South Korea | [4][2] | ||
National Shooting Championship Competition | Tughlakabad, India | [27] |
References
- ^ "Aiming high at Beijing". The Indian Express. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Mairaj Ahmad KHAN". ISSF. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "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.
- ^ a b c d e ""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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Tokyo Olympics: Know Your Olympian – Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Men's Skeet". News18. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "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.
- ^ a b c d e Srinivasan, Kamesh. "Skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan: Better late than never". Sportstar. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (19 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini take aim in women's 10m air pistol". SportStar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ a b Srinivasan, Kamesh (22 September 2015). "Mairaj determined to win an Olympic gold". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Ashrafi, Muhammad Modassir (27 July 2022). "Shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan sacrifices family, friends in search of medal for India". India Blooms. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Mishra, Rashmi (23 July 2014). "Commonwealth Games 2014: Complete Schedule Of Indian Players At The CWG 2014". India.com. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Skeet shooters end without medal in Asian Games". The Indian Express. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ "Sleepless Mairaj Basking in Glory After World Cup Silver". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Mairaj Khan becomes first Indian skeet shooter to qualify for the Olympics". News18. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ "Indian skeet shooter Mairaj wins silver at World Cup". OnManorama. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ "Shooter Mairaj Ahmad fails to qualify for men's Skeet semis". India Today. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Nair, Abhijit (17 September 2022). "Renewed technique, self-confidence – Mairaj Khan targets maiden podium at World Championships". The Bridge. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (21 May 2021). "Mairaj Ahmad Khan, aiming for the bull's eye with Ennio Falco". SportStar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Shooting: Mairaj Ahmad Khan crowned national skeet champion". Scroll. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum shoots UAE to gold". Sport360. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (29 November 2019). "National Shotgun Championship: Angad takes gold, silver for Mairaj". Sportstar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Mairaj Ahmad Khan snatches skeet gold". The Hindu. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (9 December 2022). "Mairaj, Maheshwari win skeet titles at 65th National Shotgun Championship". SportStar. Retrieved 5 March 2023.