Mairaj Ahmed Khan is an Indian shooter who plays in the shotgun skeet discipline. He is one of the most senior shooters of India.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Mairaj Ahmed Khan Oli was born on Sunday, 2 November 1975 (age 45 years; as in 2020) in Khurja, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Their zodiac sign is Scorpio. He studied at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi and holds a master’s degree.
Physical Appearance
Height: 5′ 9″
Weight (Approx): 81 kg
Eye colour: brown
Hair Color: Black
Family
parents and siblings
His father, late Ilyas Ahmed Khan, was a state-level trap shooter and businessman. His mother’s name is Farooq Ilyas. He has three siblings, two brothers and one sister. His brother, Najam Khan, was a state-level shooter but left shooting and joined their family business. His other brother’s name is Siraj Khan and sister’s name is Farheen Ilyas Khan.
Mairaj Ahmed Khan’s mother
Siraj Khan, brother of Mairaj Ahmed Khan
Najam Khan, brother of Mairaj Ahmed Khan
Mairaj Ahmed Khan’s sister
Wife
His wife, Zara Ali Khan, is a director at Airgenix Global, Gurugram, Haryana. In an interview, Maraj said that his wife understands his passion and dedication towards his sport. he adds,
Zara likes my passion and dedication towards the sport. She believes in my hard work and has always told me that if you stick with what you have, results will definitely come.
Mairaj Ahmed Khan with his wife
Religion
Mairaj Ahmed Khan was born in a Sunni Muslim family.
livelihood
After completing college, Khan started practicing shooting in 1998. One of his uncles introduced him to shooting. Once, when he was practicing shooting at a shooting range in Delhi, he met former national trap coach Taimur Matoian. In an interview, Khan shared his experience of meeting Taimur for the first time. He said,
He had been seeing me for a few weekends. Eventually, he came to me and said that my technique was very poor. But if I got serious about shooting, he offered to help me fix it.
In 2003, she competed for the first time in an international competition which was the ISSF World Cup in Lonato, Italy. Later, Mairaj trained intensively and won various national and international championships. In September 2015, he won the Olympic quota in the shotgun skeet event in Lonato, Italy, becoming the first Indian to qualify for the event. She won a silver medal at the 2016 ISSF World Cup Championships in Rio. The same year, he received an Olympic quota for the shotgun skeet event at the Olympics. In 2016, he became the first Indian to represent India in the SK125 event at the Rio Olympics.
He has won many medals in shooting championships like Commonwealth Shooting Championship, Asian Championship and South Asian Federation Championship. Mairaj has been associated with the shooting club ‘National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). Her personal coach is Andrea Benelli and her national coach is Sunny Thomas. His skill in shooting is perfect and his master eye is also perfect. He has performed at shooting events such as SK125, SKMIX, and SKTEAMM. He was selected to represent India in the shooting competition at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which was held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
medal
gold medal
National
- 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016: National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC), Delhi, Patiala, Jaipur
- 2009: All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Master Shooting Championship, Jammu
- 2011: National Games, Ranchi
- 2012: All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Master Shooting Championship, Delhi
international
- 2007: Singapore Open Shooting Championship
- 2008: Singapore Open Shooting Championship
- 2010: Commonwealth Shooting Championship, New Delhi, India
- 2021: Gold Medal at ISSF World Cup in Skeet Team Men (SKTEAMM) event held in New Delhi, India
silver medal
National
- 2007: National Games, Guwahati
- 2014: National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC), Patiala
- 2015: National Games, Kerala
international
- 2008: Singapore Open Shooting Championship
- 2009: South Asian Federation Shooting Championship, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- 2010: Commonwealth Shooting Championship, New Delhi, India
- 2012: Asian Shotgun Shooting Championship, Malaysia
- 2016: ISSF World Cup Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2019: Silver medal in the Asian Championship held in Doha, Qatar
Mairaj Ahmed Khan at the Asian Shotgun Championship
bronze medal
National
- 2008: All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Master Shooting Championship, Patiala
- 2011: National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC), Delhi
international
- 2007: Singapore Open Shooting Championship
- 2016: Asian Shotgun Shooting Championship, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- 2021: Bronze Medal at ISSF World Cup in Skeet Team Men (SKTEAMM) event held in Cairo, Italy
Note: He has received several other medals.
Controversy
He was accused of hunting a Sambhar deer in Uttar Pradesh in 2012. Various Indian news channels released his photographs in which he was seen with a deer, which he claimed to have killed. Later, Khan denied all such rumors and said that all those pictures were doctored. He further said that he was out of India when he was accused of the crime. In an interview he talked about its impact on his game. He said,
This distracted me and cost me the Olympic spot. When I returned home the cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence. All the photographs provided were doctored and the judges could see the same. Besides, I was in a different country at the same time.”
Facts/General Knowledge
- Initially, he wanted to become a professional cricketer. When he was 10 years old, he competed in the U-12 50 meter rifle competition and finished third. With the prize money he bought a cricket bat. In an interview he talked about his love for cricket. He said,
Most players took 60-70 balls to score around 80 or so. I will do this in 30 or 40 balls. I used to bat at number 3 and got excited watching Sehwag and playing cricket. I have played cricket with Sehwag for Jamia University. I have also participated in tournaments like Vizzy Trophy, CK Nayudu Trophy but I am a big fan of Sourav Ganguly. I am a left-handed player and wanted to bat like Ganguly. I have met him too, but perhaps fate has chosen the Olympic path for me, so now my aim is there.
- In an interview, he shared how he developed interest in shooting. He said.
My father was a shooter and in my childhood I used to go to the shooting grounds with him. I loved watching them shoot and I immediately developed a passion for this type of discipline. Honestly, I have followed my family tradition and I have to thank them for instilling in me the love for this particular sport.
- Khan runs an NGO named ‘MAK Shooting Foundation’ to train budding shooters in India.
- As of 2021, he is working on his autobiography titled ‘Hard Target’.
- During an interview he talked about his most exciting victory. He said,
My best win was definitely the one that allowed me to qualify for the Olympics; It was really an incredible feeling… I really couldn’t believe that I would be able to compete against other shooters during the Rio 2016 Olympics. My dream had come true, moreover it was the first time that India had passed the elimination round for the skeet discipline! Can you imagine this? This is a victory that will go down in history, I am extremely proud of it. Apart from this there are many other victories that I hold in my heart: I have won 7 titles as National Champion, was awarded the 2010 Commonwealth Shooting Champion gold medal, Rio World Cup silver and 2016 Asian Championship bronze medal.
Mairaj Ahmed Khan during his practice session
- Maraj’s idol is Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. While talking about his idol in an interview, Maraj said,
I always read about them. It makes me very happy…how does he still cope with that kind of pressure even with so many (good) players in tennis? So, here I am, all 45 and my teammates are 23 or 24. And I’m taking inspiration from Federer, ‘When I see him on the court and when people say he’s getting old, I say ‘no’. I think he’s the GOAT (greatest of all time). Whenever I see him I get goosebumps. I really want to be like him; He is my idol.”
- When he was asked in an interview what advice he would give to a youth coming closer to skeet shooting? He said,
Three P’s! Passion, process and perseverance are three elements you need to master and put into practice to achieve excellence. This applies to every game! We must never forget that it is essential to work hard, be fully committed to what you do and be provided with excellent equipment: a perfect shotgun and the highest choke tubes. I firmly believe that the best choke tubes in the world are from Gemini.”
- He likes to go to Italy often. During an interview he talked about his love for Italy, saying,
Italy is my favorite place and I have been visiting Italy since 2003 and I love spending my time in Italy, I love the food, love its history and I love the people of this country. My gear is made in Italy and my coach is also an Italian.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn