Twenty years after making his Asian Games debut as a 30-year-old newcomer, Mairaj Ahmad Khan is back on the continental stage — this time as a 50-year-old veteran with two Olympic Games and more than two decades of international shooting experience behind him.
For Khan, however, age has never defined his ambitions. “For me always…age is just a number,” Khan told indianshooting.com.
His Asian Games journey began at Doha 2006, when he was 30 and still relatively new to international shooting. “I was 30 years old in my first Asian Games which was at Doha in 2006,” he recalled. The experience was very different from what he brings to Aichi-Nagoya today. “That time I was a new shooter and not very well trained or experienced at such big level.”
Twenty years later, Khan has competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and established himself as one of India’s most experienced skeet shooters. Now, at Aichi-Nagoya, Khan is making his fourth Asian Games appearance, returning to the continental stage after missing the 2018 and 2022 editions.
But despite the years, the experience and the countless targets he has faced, Khan says the process has not changed. “But after shooting many International competitions and Games specially two Olympics, I still have the same process go one target at a time and give your best.”
That philosophy has become the foundation of his long career. The stage may be bigger, the opponents may change and the years may pass, but Khan continues to focus on the target immediately in front of him. And then, he leaves the rest where he believes it belongs.
“Rest leave in Allah’s hand.”
From the 30-year-old shooter who arrived at Doha 2006 to the 50-year-old veteran competing in Aichi-Nagoya 2026, two decades have passed. The experience has grown. The journey has continued. But the approach remains unchanged.
One target at a time. Give your best.
At 50, Mairaj Ahmad Khan is still taking aim.