Mairaj Ahmad Khan


Mairaj Ahmed Khan is an Indian shooter in the shotgun skeet discipline. He won the Olympics quota in the Shotgun Skeet Event in Lonato, Italy in September 2015, the first Indian to qualify in this discipline.
In 2016, he won silver at ISSF World Cup held in April in Rio de Janeiro, the host country for 2016 Olympics.
He is the first and only Indian to have held both the World Cup title as well as the Olympic quota for India at the same time, a feat he accomplished by capturing the Silver Medal at the 2016 ISSF World Cup Championship in Rio as well as a quota place for the shotgun skeet event for the Olympics in 2016. He is the first Indian athlete to represent India in the SK125 Event during the Rio Olympic Games. He is ranked 10th in the world and 6th in Asia; he has been an international level shooter for over 15 years and won multiple accolades including medals won during the Commonwealth Shooting Championship, Asian Championships, South Asian Federation and National and International Championships.

Early years

Mairaj was born in a Sunni family of landlords situated in Khurja, Bulandshahr a small district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Ilyas Ahmed Khan and Farrukh. He started shooting in 1998 right after college. Shooting was introduced to him through his uncle. It gradually became his profession. His brother Najam Ahmed Khan is also a shooter, but prefers to look after the family. His other siblings are Siraj Ahmed Khan and Farheen Ilyas Khan.
His first international competition was the ISSF World Cup in 2003 in Lonato, Italy.

Future goals

He plans to support to India's upcoming talent of shooters through MAK Shooting Foundation, training aspiring shooters who are keen to take up skeet shooting. Few Indians in this category who can compete in international level competitions and events. An autobiography entitled Hard Target is to be published soon.

Performance

Gold Medal Tally National & International Championships

National
International

National