While the number of people taking up shotgun events have been predominantly low throughout the history of Indian shooting, it has shown a sharp rise in the past decade or so. SportsCafe caught up with Tokyo-bound Skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan, who shed some light regarding the matter.

The Uttar Pradesh-based shooter had already booked a berth for the Tokyo Games back in November 2019, when there was six-seven months left for the showdown back then. But, the quadrennial event was eventually postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic and pushed back by a year. In general, most of the Indian athletes were in a fix, with the lack of practice sessions, but Mairaj remained optimistic during the testing time while improving on other skills kept him engaged for the most part of it.

“I think I’m in a better place now and I’m working on aspects, like analyze new things, try new stock, choke, or ammunition if you’ve had limited time, cause you don’t want to waste time. But, with the long period in hand, I’ve tried so many things, which is working, which is not working - so you’ve got time to play around.”

“In the meantime, I’ve also worked on my physical conditioning and also some dry training during this pandemic. Hopefully, it will come to work in the upcoming Olympic Games. But, the Sports Authority of India started our training in July. So, we did not miss a lot of months, we just missed out on action during April, May, and June – three months, which is not a big-time gap. It was a good recovery break from the entire busy schedule in 2019.”

Mairaj was a part of the 2016 Rio Olympics and has been around the Indian shooting circuit for a long time. While the abnormality of staging the mega-event in front of empty stands have irked many, the nature of shooting apparently gives players an edge in a calm environment. With a large contingent taking the flight to Tokyo, the probability of them landing a medal is high if the above-mentioned fact is taken into account.

“We do not find any difficulty playing in front of epmpty stands. We are so focused on our target, we do not even realise who is watching or who is not watching. So, our focus is always on the target. Maybe it will be better for us, maybe we’ll do better. Because there will be no distractions or noise when there are people moving and talking. So, it will be a quiet and calm competition, but you have to break the target in the end, whether there are spectators or not,” claimed the 2016 World Championships Silver medallist.

“But the weather in April (time for the testing event in Tokyo) will be much different from July, when the Olympics actually get underway. In Rio, I won the Silver medal in the World Cup, with the same test event held in April or March. But, when I went to Brazil in August for the Olympics, the weather was totally different. It was much cooler in Rio, in August than in comparison to April, when it was very very hot and the sun was so bright.”

“So, if we miss the test events, it is going to be beneficial for us, because we will go with a more subconscious mind than a conscious mind. When you win a competition, like the one I won in Rio, in the test events, some say that it will give you confidence, others say it will give you overconfidence. But for me, the players will get confidence regarding shooting in the practice range. 

"You can see all the performances in the tournaments; we were always on the podium. We never finished at the 11th or 12th place and earned Olympic quotas, Indian shooters were always at the top. We’ve always won quotas with the podium finishes. When you are good and in the right direction, it’s the day at the Olympics that matters. We are all capable of winning a medal,"