New Delhi: Shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan made a successful start to his campaign at the ISSF World Cup by bagging a silver medal for India in the men’s skeet event in Rio de Janeiro.
Mairaj’s feat gave India their first skeet medal at a World Cup. The 40-year-old finished with an overall tally of 14 in the gold medal match but lost to Sweden’s Marcus Svensson in a shoot-off after both were tied at 14. Tamarro Casandro of Italy took home the bronze.
Mairaj shot 122 in the qualifying, 15/16 in semi-final stage of six-men final round and then 14+1 in the gold medal match. Mairaj’s best international performance previous to this was a team gold in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship in 2010.
In 26 World Cup appearances, this was his best finish and first final.
Earlier, he became India’s first skeet shooter to win an Olympic quota place, qualifying at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy. He finished sixth to become the first Indian to qualify in the skeet event at the Olympics.
Overjoyed at the result, National Rifle Association of India president Raninder Singh said, “I salute Mairaj’s perseverance and commitment to the sport.”
“This is an example for not only shooters, but all aspiring young athletes of this country on the trials and tribulations that an international sportsperson has to go through before achieving success, provided you get the right guidance and do not lose focus,” Raninder added.
