![]() Mairaj Ahmad Khan at the 2020 Summer Olympics | |
Personal information | |
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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]
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]
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]
Medal | Date | Event | Place | Ref |
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2007 | National Shooting Championship Competition | Delhi, India | |
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Singapore Open Shooting Championship (team) | Singapore | ||
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Singapore Open Shooting Championship (individual) | |||
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National Games of India | Guwahati, India | ||
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2008 | Singapore Open Shooting Championship (team) | Singapore | |
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Singapore Open Shooting Championship (individual) | |||
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All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Master's Shooting Championship | Patiala, India | ||
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2009 | National Shooting Championship Competition | India | |
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All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting Championship | Jammu, India | ||
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South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (team) | Dhaka, Bangladesh | ||
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South Asian Federation Shooting Championship (individual) | |||
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2010 | National Shooting Championship Competition | India | |
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Commonwealth Shooting Championships (pairs) | New Delhi, India | [3][6][7] | |
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Commonwealth Shooting Championships (individual) | [6] | ||
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2011 | Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships (team) | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | [3][5] |
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National Games of India | Ranchi, India | ||
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National Shooting Championship Competition | Delhi, India | ||
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2012 | All India Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting Championship | Delhi, India | |
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Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships | |||
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2014 | National Shooting Championship Competition | Patiala, India | |
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2015 | National Games of India | Kerala, India | |
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2016 | National Shooting Championship Competition | Jaipur, India | [23] |
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ISSF World Shooting Championships | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [6][19][5][2] | |
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Asian Shotgun Shooting Championships | Abu Dhabi, UAE | [24][5][2] | |
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2019 | National Shotgun Championship | Tughlakabad, India | [25] |
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Asian Shooting Championships | Doha, Qatar | [5][2] | |
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2021 | ISSF World Cup | New Delhi, India | [5][2] |
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Cairo, Egypt | [2] | ||
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2022 | Digvijay Singh Memorial Shooting Championship | Delhi, India | [26] |
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ISSF World Cup | Changwon, South Korea | [4][2] | |
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National Shooting Championship Competition | Tughlakabad, India | [27] |