Tag Archives: Indian Muslim in Sports

Mairaj Ahmad Khan snatches skeet gold

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Khurja, Bulandshahar District, UTTAR PRADESH :

Mairaj Ahmad Khan wins a spectacular gold from nowhere in the Digvijay Singh shotgun championship in Delhi on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

New Delhi:

Darshna Rathore had a chance to fight for gold but missed the last two birds and thus had to settle for the bronze.

Olympian and World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan asserted his class yet again as he accelerated to a smart finish in grabbing the skeet gold in the Digvijay Singh shotgun championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.

The 46-year-old Mairaj beat Arjun Thakur 35-30 for the gold, as he missed only one bird in the medal round. He had qualified on top in the semifinal with 27 hits, after having made the final with a modest score of 115, six point behind qualification topper Gurjoat Khangura.

‘’Final and semifinal are great. I am going to work only on qualification for the next three months’’, said Mairaj, understandably happy about the way he had competed despite not being at his best.

It was a similar case during the last World Cup in Changwon, when Mairaj had to win a shoot off with four others after being tied on 119 for the last two berths, before racing to the gold.

Anantjeet Singh Naruka who had shot 120 in qualification lost the shoot off against Amrinder Singh Cheema for a berth in the medal round.

Raiza Dhillon won both the women’s and junior skeet gold medals. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

It was Raiza Dhillon all the way as she won both the women’s and junior gold. Raiza beat qualification topper Ganemat Sekhon 36-35 for the women’s gold, and beat Parinaaz Dhaliwal 33-32 for the junior gold.

Darshna Rathore had a chance to fight for gold but missed the last two birds and thus had to settle for the bronze.

The results:

Skeet: Men: 1. Mairaj Ahamed Khan 35 (27) 115; 2. Arjun Thakur 30 (27) 119; 3. Gurjoat Khangura 24 (29) 121; 4. Amrinder Singh Cheema 15 (24) 113.

Juniors: 1. Harmehar Singh Lally 28 (25) 112; 2. Bhavtegh Singh Gill 23 (25) 113; 3. Rajveer Singh Gill 19 (26) 112; 4. Abhay Singh Sekhon 14 (26) 116.

Women: 1. Raiza Dhillon 36 (25) 113; 2. Ganemat Sekhon 35 (27) 118; 3. Darshna Rathore 26 (22) 109; 4. Zahra Mufaddal Deesawala 11 (21) 112.

Juniors: 1. Raiza Dhillon 33 (23) 113; 2. Parinaaz Dhaliwal 32 (23) 109; 3. Darshna Rathore 24 (28) 109; 4. Sanjana Sood 14 (26) 113.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by The Hindu Bureau / New Delhi, August 01st, 2022

Shams Mulani: Never felt I was only a white-ball bowler

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Raigad, MAHARASHTRA :

Shams Mulani has silenced all his critics with his sterling performance in the Ranji Trophy.

FILE PHOTO: Mumbai bowler Shams Mulani during a Ranji Trophy match at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.   –  THE HINDU ARCHIVES

He made his First Class debut in 2018-19. He was Mumbai’s highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy the following season.

Still, Shams Mulani , the all-rounder, has always had to deal with murmurs of primarily being a white-ball bowler. Over the last fortnight, Mulani has silenced all his critics with his sterling performance bowling left-arm spin.

Mulani has picked a whopping 22 wickets in the first two league stages, including three consecutive five-wicket hauls. As a result, he is topping the wicket-takers’ chart in the Ranji Trophy. The southpaw, who is a couple of weeks shy of turning 25, hopes his performance versus Saurashtra and Goa should end the debate about spin-bowling skills in the longer format.

“I think it should because I never felt I was only a white-ball bowler. I feel that I am versatile and I can play all three formats pretty well as a bowler. That’s what I am trying to do,” Mulani told Sportstar on Monday, a day after being adjudged Player of the Match for his 11-wicket haul and a crucial 50 in Mumbai’s second essay.

“The tags are always going to be there, critics are always going to say something, you can’t help it. You just have to do what you do… let the ball and the bat do the talking.”

It was impressive to see Mulani using the width of the crease versus Goa, sensing the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium was offering turn from outside off-stump to right-handers. “I can say it’s a sense of maturity. Being around for a while, I have started reading the conditions better. The key to pick wickets is to assess the conditions, the batters and change your plan accordingly. I am glad it’s coming off,” he said.

Mulani stressed despite little red-ball cricket in the last two years, it’s his beginning at the Bengal Cricket Academy at Shivaji Park that meant he continued to work hard even while bowling with the red ball.

“Even when the whole focus was on limited overs (he was a Covid-replacement for Axar Patel in IPL 2021’s first half), I make it a point to carry at least one red-ball in my kit-bag all the time,” Mulani said. “That’s the basics. We started off bowling with it as kids and that’s what is going to hold us in good stead in the long-run.”

source: http://www.sportstar.thehindu.com / Sportstar / Home> Domestic / by Amol Karhadkar / Ahmedabad – February 28th, 2022