Shooter Mairaj wants to win medal for father
Tokyo-bound top shotgun shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan, who lost his father a fortnight ago, wants to fulfill his wish by winning a medal at the quadrennial event.
“Yes, I want to win a medal for my father. He was a great admirer to my shooting and even before his death he was concerned about my Olympics preparations,” Khan said on Tuesday.
The 45-year-old shooter, who is back for training after performing rituals at his hometown Khurja in Bulandshahr last week, is calm and composed and feels ready for the Tokyo Games as he would be leaving for Italy next week to do his final round of training there before leaving for Tokyo from there itself.
“Unlike the 2016 Rio Olympics, when I was in a bit hurry, extra excited etc., I am calm and composed this time as I have enough time to give final touches to my preparations for the Games. I have my gun, ammunitions, I am strong both technically and mentally and in one word I can say that everything is perfect with me this time.”
“I am also not alone this time as I have compatriot Angad Bajwa for training at Italy,” he said, adding, “It’s better to have someone as training partner as we had a good outing at Delhi’s World Cup recently.”
Khan, who earned his spot at the Olympics by winning a silver medal at the Asian Championship in Doha in 2019, said that shooting sport needs a lot of competition training, and he is right on target. “Though the event at the Egypt last year wasn’t that good in term of competition training, the Delhi’s World Cup was really satisfactory. I would also be participating in 3-4 small events in Italy before the Olympics.”
He also said that things would be quite different this time at the Tokyo Olympics, so he was preparing accordingly. “Now days, I have been training for the qualification rounds in the first session of the day and then for the final rounds in the second session. It’s quite a relaxed training system now days,” he said.
“Me and my training team, including my coach and former Olympic champion Ennio Falco (also from Italy) have fixed 60-day target for the Tokyo Olympics and we are much ahead of our plan,” said Khan, adding, “All the shooters across the world missed competition training due to the pandemic during the last one year and the competition at the Tokyo Games is going to be something very different.”
“In fact, we don’t want to rush things. We have enough time to prepare. Have already started training and I am in constant touch with my coach, psychologist Robert Pakk and physical trainer Jitendra Arya through calls, messages, chats etc., just to ensure day-to-day update to all concerned.”
He, however, said that the death of his father allowed him a small break from training. “I am sad, and I would be missing him a lot at the Games, but I also feel it was a good break from training. At this juncture of my life, Pakk has been a great help to me as he (Pakk) keeps me reminding to stay positive and calm. He also reminds me that shooting is inside me I just believe in myself.”
Probably the oldest shooter in India’s 15-member team for the Tokyo Games, Khan has also been a great admirer of tennis legend Roger Federer and he is drawing inspiration to excel at the sporting showpiece.
“He (Federer) is my ideal as he helps me believe that age is just a number. Have seen many shooters across the world with 50 plus of age winning medals at the world level and I am still feel myself young enough to shoot the target successfully,” said Khan, who is who is ranked 10th in the world in his event.
“I am following Federer for the last many years. His agility and fitness is something great and people should try to learn from him. I have teammates who are 23 or 24 years old, and I am drawing inspiration from Federer as his style of play on the court gives me immense pleasure...how he is still coping with that kind of pressure, with so many (good) players in tennis now.”