Asif Hossain Khan

Khan started his shooting career at Pabna Shooting Club. Although he preferred athletics to shooting, he snatched inter-club shooting championship in 1999 and 2000. Still an athletics fanatic, Khan entered the athletics training programme of Bangladesh Krira Shiksha Pratisthan (BKSP), the national sports institute of Bangladesh. But his career plans changed when his coach asked him to join the newly organized shooting team of BKSP. Khan agreed to his coach's proposal more as a responsibility than interest. Later, he insisted that his coaches at BKSP helped him to build his winning mentality. Khan took part in the 2002 Bangladesh Games and achieved a bronze medal. His success was then spotted by the national scouts and he was called at the camp of that year's Commonwealth Games. Khan was surprised for his calling at the camp and found it even tougher there. But he attracted everyone with his talent and hard labor and was selected for the national team. ==Career==

Commonwealth success Khan took part in the 10 m Air rifle individual event in the 2002 Commonwealth Games at the age of 15. He performed well and found himself fifth before the last shot. At that moment he thought a good shot could earn him a fourth-place finish. He said,"..if I could make a good I would probably end up fourth. The bronze was a possibility but slightly unlike". His final shot scored 9.9, with a total of 691.9, and he won the gold medal. Later performances After the Commonwealth Games he took part in the Asian Games. Though he got a disappointing 12th-place finish he scored more points than his Commonwealth win. In 2003 he performed respectably in the 2003 World Cup in Milan. In 2004 he became the first Bangladeshi to take part in shooting at the Olympics. Even though he finished 35th, he considered the event as his highest honour. In 2005 Asian Championship he registered his highest ever total score that earned him a bronze medal finish. Police incident with Asif Hossain Khan and his friends On October 2, 2006, after an incident between police and shooting federation staff, police broke into the federation premises and assaulted several shooters including Khan. Khan and his fellow shooters were preparing for the 2006 Asian Games to be held at Doha in November 2006. An altercation occurred between a police chauffeur and a federation guard regarding the parking of a car. Following this, police came to the spot and, according to witnesses, beat "whoever they found". Police beat Khan in multiple places and severely injured his left arm and leg. Khan said, "We, in fact, tried to stop the brawl but police would not listen to us". He also tried to protect himself by asserting his identity and success to his attackers. However, the police appeared to intensify their violence after this revelation. He, along with four other shooters and staff, were taken to the police station and beaten again. They were later sent to court by the police. Khan was granted bail from the court and was admitted to hospital. Doctors suggested that his arm muscles were badly injured and would take time to recover. His leg was also injured seriously and doctors were uncertain of when he would be able to practice again. Khan's mental and emotional trauma was also apparent as he claimed he would give up shooting. He even pondered he would give his Commonwealth Games gold medal back to the authority. 2008 South Asian Shooting Championship On November 22, 2008, Khan won two gold medals on the opening day of 4th South Asian Shooting Championship in Islamabad, Pakistan. He first won the individual gold in 10m Air Rifle event scoring 694.3 points, and then won the team event under the same category with shooters Saiful Islam and Imam Hossain. In the individual gold, Khan bettered his previous best score of 691 points. ==See also==