Mairaj Ahmad KHAN

Born on November 2, 1975, in Khurja, Bulandshahar, a town in northern Uttar Pradesh, Mairaj Ahmad Khan became the first Indian skeet shooter to qualify for the Olympics at Rio 2016 at the age of 40. At Tokyo 2020, the Indian shooter will be the oldest among the Indian contingent.

Mairaj Ahmad Khan was born into an affluent shooting family. His father, brother and uncles were state-level trap shooters. But a young Mairaj was never drawn to shooting and instead dreamt of playing for the Indian cricket team. 

Shooting remained a weekend hobby as he focused on his cricket career. An aggressive batsman, Mairaj Ahmad Khan made his college team and played alongside former Indian international Virender Sehwag for the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. 

Mairaj Ahmad Khan took part in the Vizzy Trophy -- an annual inter-zonal university tournament -- and the CK Nayudu Trophy, an all-India Under-22 cricket competition. His cricket career didn’t go beyond it.

Consequently, Mairaj took up skeet shooting at 24 and enjoyed a steady rise through the ranks with wins at the national stage.