World Championships: Murali Sreeshankar becomes first Indian male long jumper to qualify for finals

Eugene (U.S.A.) Murali Sreeshankar became the first Indian male long jumper to qualify for World Ath

Murali Sreeshankar became the first Indian male long jumper to qualify for World Athletics Championships finals while 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable also expectedly made the grade on the first day of the competitions in Eugene.

Sreeshankar, who had entered the championships as a dark horse for a medal at second spot in the season’s top list, had a best jump of exactly 8m, which he did in his second attempt, to finish second in qualification round Group B and seventh overall.

Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to make it to the World Championships long jump finals and first to win a medal — bronze in 2003 edition in Paris.

Two other Indians in the fray, Jeswin Aldrin, who was cleared for the championships despite failing to impress the national selectors in two rounds of trials, and Muhammed Anees Yahiya could not make it to the finals after finishing ninth and 11th in Group A qualification round with best jumps of 7.79m and 7.73m respectively.

Those who achieved 8.15m or the 12 best performers from across the two groups qualify for the finals to be held on Sunday (6:50 a.m. IST).

The 23-year-old Sreeshankar has been a consistent performer with his 8.36m jump at the Federation Cup in April, followed by 8.31m and 8.23m at an event in Greece and National Inter-State Championships respectively.

Only Japan’s Yuki Hashioka (8.18m) and Marquis Dendy (8.16m) of U.S.A. crossed the 8.15m mark during the qualification round of two groups.