Mairaj becomes first Indian to win Men’s skeet gold

By Bibhu Ray

(The Quiver) : On Monday, 46 year-old Mairaj Khan scripted history as he won India’s first-ever ISSF World Cup gold medal in the men’s skeet shooting event in Changwon. The oldest member of India’s shooting contingent at the Changwon World Cup shot 37 in the 40-shot final.

Mairaj who hails from Uttar Pradesh, finished ahead of Korea’s Minsu Kim (36) and Britain’s Ben Llewellin (26), who won the silver and bronze respectively.
Before winning a five-way shoot-off, Mairaj had shot 119/125 across two qualifying days. Mairaj found himself competing for two final qualifying berths with four other people, including Kuwaiti Abdullah Al Rashidi, a two-time Olympic medalist.
The two-time Olympic had won a silver medal in the men’s skeet in the 2016 edition of the ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.
“My coach wanted me to train without any disturbance and at a time of his choice. We have small range in Aligarh, where we start training at 6 am to avoid crowds. The range is small, but gives us liberty to follow and execute our plans,” Mairaj said.
Earlier in the day, the trio of Anjum Moudgil, Ashi Chouksey and Sirf Kaur Samra won bronze in the women’s 50m rifle 3P team event.
With five gold, five silver and three bronze, India stayed on top of the medals tally. Hosts Korea are second with a total eight medals (3 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze), while Serbia with three gold are third.