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Time of India
a day ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Murali Sreeshankar: 'Long jump standard will keep going up in India'
Murali Sreeshankar Bhubaneswar: Murali Sreeshankar couldn't have been prouder of Shahnavaz Khan after the youngster gave him a run for his money with a huge leap of 8.04m during the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze level meet at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday. 'He is only 18 years old, and he has a long way to go. We train together in Trivandrum, and we push each other and fight with each other. We have a good rapport, and this shows that the long jump standard in India will just keep going up,' said Sreeshankar, who only in his last attempt made the jump of 8.13m to win his fourth consecutive title. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! On a comeback trail after missing the entire last year following a surgery in April, the 26-year-old is now looking forward to just resting ahead of the inter-state meet later this month. 'My body is completely broken after the long travel and continuous back-to-back competitions. I'm not used to doing it for the past one year so I'm slowly getting back to that rhythm and the past two weeks have been really hectic for me,' added the Asian Games silver medallist. 'This is the third country I have been in over the past 10 days. So, I just need to get some rest and refocus and get ready for the big one at inter-state.' Hopefully, in Chennai, he will be in good form to hit the 8.27m which is the qualifying mark for the Worlds event. He might have achieved it on Sunday evening itself had two of his jumps not been called foul. Nonetheless he was pleased with the consistency. 'I made three successive jumps of more than 7.90m and it might be all Bhubaneswar magic because whenever I come here, I do good,' said Sreeshankar, who also achieved his PB of 8.41m at the Odisha capital two years back. However, all this wasn't easy at all for him. 'It was pretty tough for me because I was not getting the rhythm which might be due to the long travel and the jet lag and everything,' he added. While his recent jumps make it hard to believe, he is making a comeback from a career-threatening injury, and it's only been a few months since he started his jumps training. 'I've started jumps probably like two or three months back. In spikes, I've altogether jumped probably like eight or nine times before starting my season. And obviously when you're coming back after a career threatening injury that mental factor and apprehension will be there,' said the seasoned athlete. The good thing is this is not the first time he is making a comeback. He missed the 2018 Commonwealth Games because he was diagnosed with appendicitis and needed to undergo emergency surgery. Later, he made a comeback and won the silver at the 2022 CWG. And this time, too, he is confident of making it big in the coming days. 'You need to be really strong up here no matter what the situation is to get past it. I'm one such guy who just takes the best out of every situation and keeps moving forward no matter what's happening around me,' said the man on a mission. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Sreeshankar simply happy to be back
Bhubaneswar: Murali Sreeshankar calls Kalinga Stadium his lucky ground. It was here that he recorded his first 8m jump (8.20m in 2018) as well as his personal best (8.41m in 2023). Returning to his happy hunting ground after recovering from a career threatening left knee – the surgery has left a long scar – he needed every bit of fortune to win his fourth straight competition in five weeks. Sreeshankar leapt 8.13m in his sixth and last attempt to win the long jump at the World Athletics bronze event in Bhubaneswar. (AFI) Egged on by a passionate crowd, Sreeshankar leapt 8.13m in his sixth and last attempt to steal the thunder from young Shahnavaz Khan, who looked set for a win with his first 8m-plus jump, an 8.04m effort. 'I believe this is Bhubaneswar magic. Whenever I come here, I just do good,' the 26-year-old said. Sreeshankar looked in decent rhythm, two fouls sandwiching attempts of 7.92m, 7.95m, 7.93m before the winning effort to carry his form from Almaty, where he won last week. 'This is the third country that I'm moving past over the past 10 days, so I just need to get some rest before I get ready for a big one at the Inter State (in Chennai). I am happy for Shahnavaz too since we train together and push each other,' the 2023 Asian Games silver medallist, who now trains at SAI Thiruvananthapuram, said. Returning to competition after a gap of more than a year, Sreeshankar has barely had the time to finetune his technique. His days involve spending hours to regain the strength, to gain the confidence needed to trust the repaired knee. 'This season has been all about rehab. From January until now, I've been spending three sessions per week in gym, each session lasting four hours. I started jumping only 2-3 months back. In spikes, I've altogether jumped probably 8-9 times before starting my season.' Still, Sreeshankar looked on course to meet the Tokyo World Championships entry standard of 8.27m. 'I was confident I'll do it. I gained more elevation than I wanted in the last jump and lost about 30cm,' he said. Comeback bids such as these are often as much about the mind too. Career-altering injuries and surgeries can often cast apprehensions in an athlete's mind, affecting performances at crunch moments. For Sreeshankar, it was hardly the case because he had 'beaten death' in past, as he refers to his appendicitis surgery in 2018 that cost him that year's Commonwealth Games. 'I was only a teenager then and that was a life-threatening situation. When you have come back from something like that, these surgeries are easier to deal with,' he said. 'What also gave me confidence were the doctors in Aspetar Hospital in Doha which is probably the best hospital in the world. My case was complicated and even the best doctors said it wasn't up to them. It was probably the end of my career. But the doctors in Doha were very confident. They have taken a graft from my hamstring and wrapped my knee, and put three screws there. I know my knee is pretty strong but it needs some care.' That means a regimented post-event routine involving soft tissue release and rehab exercises. 'It's natural to have some doubts and fear but when I step onto the runway for jumps, my mind goes completely blank.' On Sunday, running in for his last jump, all he thought was giving his all, 'even if I break my leg again.' 'I have come back from much harder situations but there's a close bunch that keeps my spirits high. I lean on Tejaswin Shankar and Neeraj Chopra who have always been very encouraging.' After a two-day break, Sreeshankar will head to Chennai for the Inter State where he'll bid to achieve the entry standard for Tokyo. 'If that happens, it's fine. If not, I'll still be ok, I am just happy to be back competing.'
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Sreeshankar leaps to season best; Annu and Animesh come up trumps
Murali Sreeshankar lifted his series of fine performances to achieve his season best of 8.13m to win the men's long jump, while Annu Rani and Animesh Kujur rode on vociferous crowd support to claim women's javelin and men's 200m titles respectively at the inaugural World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze event at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday. In his comeback season following a knee surgery, Sreeshankar, who jumped 8.05m in Pune last month and had camped here for about a week, excelled at his favourite venue. He leaped close to the 8m mark thrice before pushing himself to get his best of the season in his final attempt. An unchallenged Annu continued her good run with renewed energy to throw the spear to 62.01m after recording her season best (62.59m) in Poland last week. Annu, who began with 52.74m, achieved her winning mark in her fourth attempt. She went past 61m again to underline her fine form. Kujur, who set the National record of 20.32 at the Asian championships in May, claimed the 200m crown with 20.77. After pulling out from the 100m heats in the morning, Kujur, focusing on 200m, regained his lead from Korean Ko Seunghwan in the last 30m in the evening. Abdulla Aboobacker, with a season best of 17.19m, leaped to 16.53m in his third attempt to beat compatriot Karthik Unnikrishnan by 11cm. Vishal T.K. clocked 45.72 to take the men's 400m title. Second-placed Amoj Jacob, who timed 50.26 in the heats, achieved his season best of 45.86. Home favourites Rohit Yadav and Sachin Yadav finished fourth and fifth with 80.35m and 79.80m respectively in javelin. The Ramaraj sisters had disappointment in store. Vithya was disqualified for a false start in 400m while Nithya, leading comfortably in 100m hurdles, stumbled at the eighth hurdle and fell on the track. The results (finals): Men: 100m: 1. Muhammad Azeem Bin Mohd. Fahmi (Mas) 10.35, 2. Chamod Yodhasinghe (Sri) 10.43, 3. Danish Iftikhar Muhammas Roslee (Mas) 10.50; 200m: 1. Animesh Kujur 20.77, 2. Ko Seunghwan (Kor) 20.95, 3. Kumar 21.17; 400m: 1. Vishal T.K. 45.72, 2. Amoj Jacob 45.86, 3. Kumar 46.89; 800m: 1. Mohammed Afsal 1:46.60, 2. Prakash Gadade 1:47.14, 3. Krishan Kumar 1:48.00; 5000m: 1. Waberi Houssein (Dji) 14:05.36, 2. Abhishek Pal 14:10.60, 3. Sawan Barwal 14:13.41; 4x400m relay: 1. Sri Lanka 3:08.22, 2. India (Santhosh Kumar T, Vishal, Amoj Jacob, D. Choudhary) 3:08.37, 3. Iraq 3:08.74; Long jump: 1. Murali Sreeshankar 8.13m, 2. Shahnavaz Khan 8.04m, 3. Lokesh Sathyanathan 7.85m; Triple jump: 1. Abdulla Aboobacker 16.53m, 2. Karthik Unnikrishnan 16.42m, 3. Gailey. V 16.26m; Javelin: 1. Rumesh Tharanga (Sri) 86.50m, 2. Shivam Lohakare 80.73, 3. Sumedha Ranasinghe (Sri) 80.65m. Women: 100m: 1. Abinaya Rajarajan 11.57, 2. S.S. Sneha 11.70, 3. Nithya Gandhe 11.70; 200m: 1. Angel Silvia 23.95, 2. Nithya Gandhe 24.11, 3. Unnathi Aiyappa 24.56; 400m: 1. G.G. Vijayakumari 53.40, 2. Devyaniba Zala 53.87, 3. Louise Evans (Gbr) 54.28; 800m: 1. Amandeep Kaur 2:04.31, 2. Huidrom Bhumeshwory 2:06.96, 3. Thota Sankeertana 2:07.17; 1500m: 1. Pooja 4:15.13, 2. Lili Das 4:17.66, 3. Amandeep Kaur 4:27.14; 100m hurdles: 1. Pragyan Prasanti Sahu 13.74, 2. Nandhini Kongan 13.80, 3. C. Anjali 14.00; Long jump: 1. Shaili Singh 6.28m, 2. Bhavani Yadav 6.13m, 3. Sandra Babu 6.10m; Javelin: 1. Annu Rani 62.01m, 2. Hatarabag Lekamalage (Sri) 56.27m, 3. Deepika 54.20m.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Animesh, Sreeshankar, Sachin in focus at Continental Tour meet
A major aspect of staging international sports events is about home country athletes delivering success, or being in medal contention. Only weeks earlier, a great example was provided by the Neeraj Chopra Classic. The host who gave his name to the well-attended meet also proved the hottest, his victory proving the icing on the cake. Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, who will be seen in action at the World Athletics Continental Tour-Bronze level meet in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. (IIS Media) Elite Indian athletes are no longer left searching for overseas exposure, although India still awaits a genuine star who can rise to compete on the world stage. After almost 15,000 fans turned up at Bengaluru's Sree Kanteerava Stadium to watch Chopra win the inaugural NC Classic on July 5, a more modest start will be made on Sunday when the Odisha capital's Kalinga Stadium stages the one-day World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet. Bhubaneswar, a hockey city that hosted the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017, will hope to draw in the crowds and provide the stage for some impressive performances. It can both draw public engagement in track and field and also use the meet as a starting point for India getting to host bigger events. Around 160 athletes from 17 countries are expected with 17 events scheduled for men and women. The meet is a chance for Indian athletes to collect vital ranking points as they bid to qualify for next month's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Sachin Yadav, seen as the next javelin hope, will be one who will look to qualify on entry standard (85.50m), having narrowly missed the mark — he threw 85.16m to come second in the Asian Championships in May. The qualification deadline is August 24. While jumps and throws have been India's focus for a few years now, sprints and relays are also garnering attention thanks to a group of talented athletes. Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Amlan Borgohain and Manikanta Hoblidhar hold out the hope for Indian sprint to take the next step forward. Competition among them has led to the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay records being rewritten this year. Leading the pack is Kujur, 22, the national record holder in both the sprints (10.18 secs and 20.32 secs). The Odisha athlete's ambition is to run 100m under 10 seconds and clock the 200m, his favourite event, under 20 seconds. 'It will happen when it has to. It might happen tomorrow, it might happen in 10 years, but an Indian will definitely get there,' Martin Owens, head coach at Reliance High Performance Centre, told HT after Kujur clocked 10.18 in Greece last month. Kujur was also part of the quartet that set the 4x100m relay record in April. Competing on home turf — he trains at Odisha High Performance Centre while most other sprinters are Mumbai based — he will be the biggest draw. Kujur is expected to only run the 200m, where he'll be challenged by Borgohain (SB 20.80), another consistent performer. South Korea's Ko Seung-hwan — his season's best is 20.45secs — is the second fastest in the field. There will be no Chopra, but men's javelin is expected to feature a few 80-plus throwers. Yadav is keen to establish himself as a firm India No.2. The 6' 5' thrower showed his potential at the Asian meet in Gumi and a home meet can be ideal to excel. Kishore Jena is not entered, and he as well as Rohit Yadav and Manu DP have fallen away owing to a variety of reasons. At the 2023 Budapest Worlds, India fielded three throwers — Chopra, Manu and Rohit — and it says something about India's athlete management that barring Chopra, there is a lack of consistency. Yadav, who sees himself as a steady 85m thrower, will be challenged by Yashvir Singh (PB 82.57m) and Shivam Lohakare (PB 80.95m), the latest entrant to the 80m club. Sri Lanka's Sumedha Jagath Mudiyanselage and Rumesh Pathirage, both with 85m-plus throws, will be expected to be strong contenders. Long jump too will be in focus with Murali Sreeshankar building up on his injury comeback. Having missed more than a year following knee surgery, he cleared 8.05m in his first competition on comeback at the Indian Open in Pune last month. On August 3, he won the Qosanov Memorial in Almaty with a leap of 7.94m. His National Record is 8.41m, achieved in 2023. The younger Jeswin Aldrin though is struggling — he is listed but there are doubts over his participation on Sunday.
India Today
03-08-2025
- Sport
- India Today
Murali Sreeshankar continues magical run after injury, secures 3rd straight title
India's star long jumper, Murali Sreeshankar, continued his fine run after making a return from injury, securing his third straight title as he won the event at the Qosanov Memorial Athletics Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Saturday, August 3. The 26-year-old produced a winning jump of 7.94m in his first attempt to secure the top spot at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze label (category C) meet. advertisementHis other efforts were 7.73m, 7.58m, 7.57m, 7.80m and 7.79m. Sreeshankar's personal best is 8.41m. This was the Indian ace's third competition since returning from a knee injury which he suffered in April last year. This was Sreeshankar's third competition since returning from a knee injury, which he suffered in April last year. The issue forced the 26-year-old to undergo surgery and miss the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Also Read: Olympic gold-medalist Sha'Carri Richardson arrested over alleged domestic assault Before suffering the injury, Sreeshankar last appearance on the field was during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2023. The 26-year-old secured the silver medal at the Games and looked prime for a good run at the Olympics. Sreeshankar had made a stunning return to the field earlier in the year at the Pune Open, where he secured the win with a 8.05 m jump to secure the top spot. He then continued his fine run at the Meeting Maia Cidade do Desporto in Portugal where he once again came on top. Sreeshankar won in Portugal with a jump of 7.75 m before heading to Kazakhstan. While the Indian ace wasn't able to get into the 8-metre mark on Saturday, he showed good consistency with the rest of his jumps, securing a strong finish and the top step of the podium. Sreeshankar is yet to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. The qualification mark has been set at 8.27m. - EndsMust Watch
