Murali Sreeshankar qualifies for World Championships
Bhubaneswar, June 18
Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar produced a huge effort in his very first attempt in the qualifying round at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to qualify for the World Championships here today.
The 24-year-old recorded a personal best jump of 8.41 metres, which was just one centimetre short of Jeswin Aldrin’s national record set earlier this year.
“The wind reading was fine. Just short of the national record but I am happy to have made this jump,” Sreeshankar, representing Kerala, said.
Aldrin was second with a best jump of 7.83m while Muhammed Anees Yahiya was third with 7.71m. The Asian Games qualifying mark is 7.95m, while the qualifying distance for the World Championships is 8.25m. Just 10 days back, Sreeshankar became only the third Indian after Olympics champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda to win a Diamond League medal. He won bronze in the Paris leg with an effort of 8.09m.
In the women’s long jump qualification round, Ancy Sojan of Kerala breached the Asian Games mark of 6.45m with a best effort of 6.49m.
Asian record holder shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor topped the qualification round with a throw of 18.91m, nine centimetres short of the Asian Games qualifying mark.
