World Athletics Championships: Sreeshankar, steeplechaser Parul fail to qualify for finals
Competing in his third Worlds, the 26-year-old could only register a best of 7.78m in his three attempts in Group A — his poorest effort in over three years
Murali Sreeshankar in action during the qualifying round
TOKYO: Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar failed to make the finals at the World Athletics Championships after finishing a lowly 14th in his qualification group, extending the country’s disappointing run at the event here on Monday.
Competing in his third Worlds, the 26-year-old could only register a best of 7.78m in his three attempts in Group A — his poorest effort in over three years. He ended 25th overall out of 37 competitors. The automatic qualification mark stood at 8.15m, or at least a top-12 place across both groups.
Since March 2022, Sreeshankar has recorded only two jumps worse than Monday’s 7.78m. Ironically, one came in Budapest last year, when he managed 7.74m and also failed to make the final. In contrast, he had qualified for the final in Eugene 2022, finishing seventh.
The Kerala jumper entered Tokyo on the back of five straight titles after returning from a knee injury and surgery that kept him out of all of 2024, including the Paris Olympics. His season’s best of 8.13m might not have secured a medal, but would likely have carried him to the final. His personal best remains 8.41m, set in 2023.
India’s woes deepened in other events. National record holder Parul Chaudhary finished ninth in her women’s 3000m steeplechase heat, clocking 9:22.24 — well off her national record of 9:12.46. She placed 20th overall. Parul had been a finalist in Budapest 2023, but questions may be asked after she did not compete for more than three months leading up to Tokyo. Her last outing was at the Asian Championships in Gumi, Korea, where she took silver in 9:12.46.
Teammate Ankita Dhyani, who scraped into the Worlds after higher-ranked withdrawals, finished 11th in her heat and 35th overall with a time of 10:03.22, the slowest in the field.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, national record holder Tejas Shirse bowed out in the heats. The 23-year-old clocked 13.57 seconds to finish sixth in his race and 29th overall. The first four from each heat and the next four fastest progressed to the semifinals. Shirse, who holds the Indian record of 13.41s, had only recently secured his berth at the Worlds and arrived late in Tokyo due to visa delays.