According to Reports, On the opening day of competitions, 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable and long jumper “Murali Sreeshankar both successfully qualified for the finals of the World Athletics Championships. Sreeshankar, who began the competition as a dark horse for a medal at second on the season’s top list, finished second in qualifying round Group B ” and seventh overall with a best leap of precisely 8 metres.
“Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to qualify for the long jump finals at the World Championships” and the first to take home a medal, a bronze in the 2003 edition held in Paris.
Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya, the other two Indians who finished tenth and eleventh in the Group A qualifying round with best jumps of 7.79 metres and 7.73 metres, respectively, and both failed to advance to the final round.
The 8.15m scorers or the top 12 performers from each of the two groups advance to the finals which is going to happen on Sunday.
Sreeshankar qualified for the finals as one of the top 12 athletes even though he was unable to surpass the minimum qualifying mark of 8.15m. With jumps of 8.36 metres in the Federation Cup in April, 8.31 metres at a competition in Greece, and 8.23 metres at the National Inter-State Championships, the 23-year-old has been a steady per
Only Yuki Hashioka of Japan (8.18m) and Marquis Dendy of the USA (8.16m) exceeded 8.15m during the qualifying round.
Olympic Gold medalist Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece (8.03m), world season leader Simon Ehammer of Switzerland (8.09m) and Cuba’s Maykel Masso (7.93m), who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, were among those who advanced to the finals ahead of Sreeshankar in Group B.
“Sreeshankar regularly made long jumps. World Athletics Continent Tour Bronze event at the 12th International Long Jump in Kallithea, Greece, with performance of 8.15 metres.
Sreeshankar entered the competition after posting great domestic results in which he consistently broke the 8-meter barrier. The athlete from Kerala recorded jumps of 8.14 and 8.17 metres at the opening season in Open Jumps Competitions in Thiruvanthapuram. Later, after a tight race against Jeswin Aldrin of Tamil Nadu, he broke his own record at the Federation Cup in Kozhikode.
image credit : world track
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