Murali Sreeshankar becomes first Indian male long jumper to reach the finals of the World Athletics Championships

Eugene, USA (PTI) Murali Sreeshankar has become the first Indian male long jumper to qualify for the World Athletics Championships finals, while Avinash Sable, the 3000m steeplechaser, also made the cut on the opening day of contests here.

 

Sreeshankar, who entered the championships as a dark horse for a medal in second place on the season’s top list, finished second in qualification round Group B and seventh overall with a best leap of precisely 8m on his second try.

 

Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to compete in the World Championships long jump finals and the first to earn a medal – bronze — in 2003 in Paris.

 

Other Indians in the competition, Jeswin Aldrin, who was approved for the championships after failing to impress national selectors in two rounds of trials, and Muhammed Anees Yahiya, finished tenth and eleventh in Group A qualification round with best jumps of 7.79m and 7.73m, respectively.

 

Those who scored 8.15m or the top 12 performances from both groups qualified for the finals on Sunday (6:50am IST).

 

Sreeshankar, 23, has been a steady performer, jumping 8.36m in the Federation Cup in April, followed by 8.31m and 8.23m at an event in Greece and the National Inter-State Championships.

 

During the qualification round of two groups, only Yuki Hashioka (8.18m) of Japan and Marquis Dendy (8.16m) of the United States cleared the 8.15m barrier.

 

Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.03m) of Greece, who finished ahead of Sreeshankar in Group B qualification, global season leader Simon Ehammer (8.09m) of Switzerland, and Cuba’s Tokyo Olympics bronze winner Maykel Masso (7.93m) were all among those who qualified for the finals.

 

The 27-year-old Sable, who qualified for the 3000m steeplechase final at the 2019 edition in Doha, finished third in heat number 3 with a time of 8:18.75 to advance to the finals on Monday (early morning Tuesday in India).

 

He led until almost halfway through the race, when Hailemariyam Amare (8:18.34) of Ethiopia and Evan Jager (8:18.44) of the United States passed him.

 

The top three runners from each heat, as well as the next six fastest runners from all three heats, advance to the final.

 

Sable has recently set many national records, the most recent being an 8:12.48 mark while coming sixth at the important Diamond League Meeting in Rabat last month.

 

Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the Asian record holder in shot put, withdrew from his event owing to a groyne ailment received four days after arriving in the United States. He tried a few practise tosses before the event but opted to forego it because the ache did not go away.

 

Sandeep Kumar and Priyanka Goswami, both national record holders, were significantly below their best in the men’s and women’s 20km race walks.

 

Goswami, who started India’s campaign at the championships, placed 34th out of 36 participants who finished the race.

 

Goswami has a personal best of 1:28:45 and a season best of 1:38:10.

 

Kimberly Garcia Leon (1:26:58) of Peru won gold, with Katarzyna Zdzieblo (1:27:31) of Poland and Shijie Qieyang (1:27:56) of China taking silver and bronze.

 

Kumar, 36, came in 40th position out of 43 competitors who finished the event, recording 1:31:58. He has a personal best of 1:20:16 and a season best of 1:22:05.

 

Toshikazu Yamanishi (1:19:07) of Japan and Koki Ikeda (1:19:14) of Japan won gold and silver, respectively, while Perseus Karlstrom (1:19:18) of Sweden won bronze.

 

Later in the day, Parul Chaudhary will participate in the women’s 3000m steeplechase (11:20pm IST).

 

Aside from Sreeshankar in the men’s long jump finals, Madari Palliyalil Jabir (men’s 400m hurdles heats) is the other Indian competing on Sunday (2am IST).