Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan asserted his class by bagging a bronze medal in men’s skeet event at the 6th Asian Shotgun Championship in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
It was possibly one bird that cost the gold for Mairaj who was in irrepressible form in the knockout phase, except for missing a bird in the semifinals.
‘’It is the nature of our sport. We have to move on,’’ said Mairaj, who had won a World Cup silver in Rio earlier this year and had placed fourth in the World Cup Final in Rome. He had shot 121 for the ninth place in the Rio Olympics and 122 for the seventh spot in the World Championship last year.
It was a commendable effort in the qualification, as Mairaj wound up with 25 in the last round after slipping to 22 in the fourth. He had shot 120 following rounds of 25, 24, 24, 22 and 25.
In the bronze medal match, Mairaj overwhelmed Naser Aldihani of ‘’Independent Shooting Participant’’ 16-13. Sheeraz Sheikh was also in fine form as he qualified with a score of 121, with rounds of 25, 25, 23, 23 and 25, but shot 13 in the semifinals and finished fifth.
The Indian team managed to grab the bronze, one point behind Kazakhstan, after ISP topped with 362. Gurjoat Khangura shot 115, and a last round score of 21 possibly cost the team a better medal.
Saeed Almaktoum of UAE beat Saud Habib of ISP 15-13 for the gold after both had shot 16 in the semifinals. Saeed Almaktoum had won the shoot-off ahead of five others to make the knockout fromt the qualification phase, after seven tied on 119 for the last two berths.
The results:
Men’s skeet: 1. Saeed Almaktoum (UAE) 15 (16) 119(14); 2. Saud Habib (ISP) 13 (16) 121; 3. Mairaj Ahmad Khan 16 (15) 120; 4. Naser Aldihani (ISP) 13 (15) 122; 5. Sheeraz Sheikh 13 (121); 16. Gurjoat Khangura 115.
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