I needed to open my gun case with two commandos on both aspect: Moraad Ali Khan

The twin towers crashed to the bottom, smoke and particles rose, 1000’s died and the world modified. Travel was not the identical since September 11 and sportspersons confronted extra hurdles. For skilled shooters, carrying arms and ammunition, the ordeal had begun at safety checks, whereas tennis gamers discovered it more durable to hold their racquets as cabin baggage. Some of those that have been near Ground Zero and others for whom air journey was not as easy as earlier than recall their travails.
Moraad Ali Khan was ready for customs clearance earlier than he might exit the Dulles International Airport in Washington DC. His baggage included two shotguns and 5kg of ammunition. As he approached the checkpoint, he determined to declare the 2 firearms simply to keep away from issues in a while.
“This was around 1996-1997,” remembers the Arjuna Awardee shooter. “The customs agent checked out me and requested, ‘Do I see you in the papers tomorrow?’
“I said no. He said ‘have a nice day.’”
Khan, 60, who gained gold on the 2002 Commonwealth Games, remembers, “It was quite different back then.”
The terror assault in New York on September 11, 2001 – precisely 20 years in the past – modified the best way the world travelled. Athletes – throughout sports activities – needed to bear detailed safety checks launched the world over. And sport shooters, particularly, have grown accustomed to being held up at airports, typically even lacking flights whereas ready for clearance of their weapons regardless of having the required paperwork.
Khan remembers an incident throughout a stop-over in Singapore quickly after the 9/11 assaults. He was ready on the terminal for a connecting flight when he heard his title on the general public handle system. He was then escorted to the cargo maintain of the airplane he had flown in.
“I was made to open the gun case while two commandos with machine guns stood either side of me, as if I was a criminal. They checked my shotguns, the serial numbers, the cartridges…” Khan describes. “Once they were satisfied, they told me to close the case and lock it. Then they sealed it and sent it to the next plane. The same procedure happened in Hong Kong as well.”

Rackets trigger a stir
Tennis racquets too triggered a stir publish 9/11. Players have been beforehand allowed to hold their tennis baggage as cabin baggage, however later needed to examine them in.
“I was at the London airport post 9/11, and had my racquet with me. The security check officials brought a screwdriver to pry open the butt cap at the base of the racquet,” remembers Zeeshan Ali, India’s present Davis Cup coach. “They probably wanted to see if something was hidden. It ruined the balance of the racquet.” After that incident, Ali determined to put his racquets in his check-in baggage.
He would additionally discover himself known as out for ‘random checks’ at airports overseas since he used to get red-flagged based mostly on a safety algorithm that scans passenger names. It reached some extent the place he as soon as stepped out of queue, together with his passport and ticket in hand, earlier than being known as.
“I’ve been asked who won Wimbledon or the US Open in a particular year since I mentioned I was a tennis player and now coach of the Indian team, just to see if I was truly a player or lying. But what if you don’t know the answer, or your mind goes blank?” he says.
“Now when I travel and the guy asks questions, I just ask them to Google my name.”
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He had requested officers to Google his title when he travelled to South Africa for a trip two years in the past. But since he had been ‘red-flagged’ earlier than officers might meet him, he needed to undergo all the safety course of.
“They checked my name on Google and my picture and all showed up. Then we started talking about Roger Federer’s mother being from South Africa. But the fact is that I still had to go through the security process,” the 51-year-old provides.
Khan remembers an episode on the airport in Atlanta, a number of months earlier than the 1996 Olympics, when he had a connecting flight to catch.
“They had a system where you hand over your baggage tag to some of the officials, and they’ll take your bag to the next flight. I told the guy it’s a gun, he said, ‘ah, it doesn’t matter.’ Now everybody gets nervous,” he says.