Mairaj Ahmad Khan had final gained a medal at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Rio – a yr earlier than the 2016 Olympics. At the time, he had missed out on the gold after faltering within the shootout and ended up with a silver to his identify. Six years later, at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Khan didn’t falter once more, clinching gold. And he did so after surviving a four-way shootout for the 2 remaining spots within the second stage. In this shootout, he took down three-time World Champion and two-time Olympic medallist Abdullah Al-Rashidi after which gained the gold after beating Korean shooter Kim Minsu 37-36.
While India have gained workforce skeet occasion gold medals previously, Khan’s medal at Changwon is the first-ever particular person gold that the nation has gained within the self-discipline. Khan had earlier made historical past by changing into the primary Indian to qualify for the skeet occasion at the Rio Olympics.
Cricket earlier than shooting
Born in Khurja, Uttar Pradesh, Khan initially was a cricket participant, captaining his state U-16 workforce within the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. He had even batted alongside Virender Sehwag for Jamia Millia Islamia University.
But he realised quickly that he would by no means make it to the Indian workforce and shifted his focus to shooting, which he had an unexplored curiosity in. Olympian Mansher Singh took him beneath his wing and developed him right into a shooter.
🥇for @khanmairajahmad in Skeet Men’s Individual Event 🤩
He beat Kim Minsu from Korea by 37-36 in closing gold medal match 💯#Shooting #IndianSports pic.twitter.com/Ur6fkvQlCK
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 18, 2022
Going into the Rio Olympics, the 46-year-old was touted as a very good prospect, ranked fourth within the World and second in Asia. There additionally was the added benefit of him understanding the circumstances having gained silver at the Rio ISSF World Cup solely a yr earlier. But he didn’t make it into the primary levels of the skeet occasion, ending ninth. Five years later at Tokyo, he certified once more however completed a disappointing twenty fifth.
Khan’s failure at Tokyo was part of the general debacle of the Indian shooting contingent. After having gained the precise to journey with their largest-ever contingent of shooters to an Olympic occasion, India’s finest prospects couldn’t put in the identical performances that had catapulted them onto this storied stage – with Saurabh Chaudhary’s seventh place one of the best outcome mustered.
Changwon resurgence
Khan’s gold at Changwon has been part of a bigger medal haul by Indian shooters in South Korea. As it stands, India is main the medal tally with 5 gold, 5 silver and three bronze medals. While Khan is the oldest member of the workforce, the putting characteristic of the Indian squad at Changwon has been the markedly youthful workforce that has gone to this World Cup. Seven members of the squad are 19 or beneath.
Arjun Babuta, 23, was the primary to win a gold, successful the 10m Air rifle occasion with a rating of 630.5 in qualifying after which a 261.1 within the rating spherical. In the gold medal spherical, he beat USA’s Lucas Kozeniesky 17-9 to select his first-ever worldwide medal as a senior shooter. Babuta then took one other gold medal, this time as a part of India’s workforce within the 10m Air Rifle occasion.
His teammate in that occasion, 20-year-old Shahu Mane, teamed up with Mehuli Ghosh within the 10m Air Rifle blended occasion to win the yellow steel – beating Istvan Peni, Hungary’s a number of medal-winning world champion.
Then, 21-year-old Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar picked up yet one more gold for India, this time within the males’s three place occasion earlier than Khan’s medal rounded up what has been one of probably the most profitable outings for any Indian shooting workforce since final yr’s Tokyo nightmare.