Mairaj Ahmad Khan is not merely happy to win the Olympic quota place, the first ever by an Indian skeet shooter, but he wants an Olympic medal.
Understandably delighted with his achievement as the first shotgun marksman to qualify for the Rio Olympics, the 40-year-old Mairaj, who hails from Khurja in Uttar Pradesh, said that he was confident of reaching his goal thanks to the guidance of the former Olympic champion Ennio Falco.
“In the world championship in Lonato, I was on 98 after four rounds. I told the coach that my life depended on the last round, as I knew that I may need a perfect round to make the final and get the Olympic quota place,” said Mairaj as he talked to The Hindu on his return from Italy, on Tuesday.
Coach Falco took the pressure away from Mairaj and told him to shoot one target at a time, and not to worry about the score which might make him nervous. “I have never shot that relaxed even in national competitions and selection trials. I went through the routine. There was a problem with the scoreboard that my perfect round of 25, was shown as 24. We protested but they did not change it. I may have been upset and missed some birds. Everything happens for a reason,” said Mairaj, quite philosophical about it all, even though he missed the final.
Being tied on 122 with five others for the last four slots in the final meant a shoot-off, even though he had confirmed the Olympic quota by then. Mairaj finished seventh, but was happy that 15 years of hard work had borne fruit.
“I have played cricket for Jamia University with Virender Sehwag. I was a No. 3 batsman, a left-hander, and played cricket for the State in Vizzy Trophy, C.K. Nayudu Trophy etc. My dream was to play the cricket World Cup. But because of the long queue in cricket, and all the politics, I shifted to shooting, without even knowing that shooting was part of Olympics. Maybe, God wanted me to go to the Olympics,” said Mairaj.
Consistent season It has been a very consistent season for Mairaj as he had shot scores of 121 and 120 earlier in the World Cups. He had also become the first Indian skeet shooter to make the Asian Games final last year in Incheon, Korea.
Having been trained by the former World and Olympic champion, Zhang Shan, the Chinese woman who had beaten the men for the gold in Barcelona Olympics in 1992, Mairaj said that the Chinese was more a mental coach who had helped him realise his potential to some extent with the Commonwealth Games gold in 2010.
“Falco has been with us since 2013. He changed so much of my technique. I struggled initially and missed making the final of the National championship. I was convinced, and now it is all falling in place,” he said. He was quite grateful to the rest of the shooting fraternity, Abhinav Bindra, Manavjit Sandhu, Moraad Ali Khan, etc, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the government.
More than being pleased with his achievement, Mairaj is happy that he has lifted the profile of Indian skeet shooting. “I am not going to the Olympics to participate, I want to win the gold’’, he said.
