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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Aldrin, Shaili struggles weigh on India's long jump
New Delhi: Murali Sreeshankar's 8.13m winning effort at Sunday's World Athletics Continental Tour meet in Bhubaneswar continues his steady comeback after a year out due to injury, but Indian long jump otherwise seemed to have tapered off. Murali Sreeshankar won with a 8.13m effort at Sunday's World Athletics Continental Tour meet in Bhubaneswar. (IIS) Sreeshankar's final jump that ensured victory, although still 14 cm shy of automatic qualification for next month's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, was among the positives from India staging a meet of this stature. The men's javelin competition taking place around the same time at the Kalinga Stadium on a hot and humid evening saw a bunch of Indian throwers perform at a promising level, perhaps a reflection of the Neeraj Chopra effect. It didn't seem the case in long jump. While Sreeshankar was straining to win the event from 21-year-old Shahnavaz Khan – his 8.04m was the best till the 26-year-old bettered it in his final attempt – young national record holder Jeswin Aldrin had hobbled off without a jump, citing a left ankle niggle. At 23, Aldrin, whose national mark of 8.42m was set in 2023, should be touching his prime. However, the Reliance trainee has been grappling with a series of injuries instead. His best this season is 7.83m, at the federation championships in Kochi in April. It wasn't very promising in women's long jump either. Shaili Singh, the Anju Bobby George academy product who is trained by her husband Bobby George, only managed a modest 6.28m. The 21-year-old former junior world silver medallist has a best of 6.76m and touched 6.64m at the April federation championships, but she also said an ankle problem in her take-off leg hampered her. When Sreeshankar was ruled out of the 2024 Paris Olympics with injury, Aldrin was expected to provide a good impression of Indian long jump's progress. But he was eliminated after a best of 7.61m in qualification. The last time Aldrin hit 8 metres was in August 2023. He has also struggled with his left knee that he injured during the Budapest World Championships that year. In 16 competitions since, his best is 7.99m. James Hillier, athletics director at Reliance High Performance Centre, said: 'Jeswin is a tremendous talent but unfortunately he is struggling a little with his body. He'll be back stronger next season.' Last year, only one Indian, Aditya Kumar Singh of Uttar Pradesh, crossed 8m. Shaili's stagnation is surprising. Seen as the one likely to surpass Anju's national mark of 6.83m – it was set in 2004 – since her success as a junior, she finished fifth in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games (6.48m). In Bhubaneswar, Shaili managed only two legal jumps, though her 6.28m was good to win from a depleted field. Ancy Sojan, the Hangzhou silver medallist, pulled out citing a muscle strain in her take-off leg. Since May 2023, Shaili has crossed 6.60m only twice and her chance of qualifying for Tokyo looks dim. The entry standard is 6.86m while Shaili's Road to Tokyo ranking is 61 where only the top 36 qualify. Shaili said: 'I am not too disappointed with the result considering that I was competing with a niggle in the take-off ankle. I'll end my season at the Inter State in Chennai (August 20-24) and take time off for rest and recovery.' Perhaps Aldrin and Shaili will benefit from proper recovery and rehabilitation. Shahnavaz though holds some promise. Sreeshankar's younger training partner at SAI Thiruvananthapuram had a second best effort of 7.88m. 'He is a great kid and an amazing talent to watch out for,' Sreeshankar said. 'Even if I had lost to Shahnavaz, I would have been alright because he is a very good talent.' Bihar's 24-year-old Sunny Kumar is also seen as having potential. He disappointed on Sunday – he was 10th with a best of 7.25m – although Kumar jumped a personal best of 7.90m at the Indian Open in Bengaluru in June. Sreeshankar, Shahnavaz and Kumar are all expected to take part in the Chennai Inter State meet.
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.
Hindustan Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Kujur, Chithravel light up the Federation Cup
New Delhi: After flirting with Amlan Borgohain's 200m national record of 20.52s for much of last season, Animesh Kujur finally ran the fastest half lap by an Indian on Thursday, in the process defending his crown at the ongoing National Federation Athletics Championship in Kochi and making the cut for this year's Asian Championships for which the qualifying mark stood at 20.53s. Coming into the race as one of the primary challengers to the erstwhile national record of 20.52s -- set in the same competition three years back -- the 21-year-old Kujur clocked an impressive 20.40s to finish ahead of Borgohain (20.80s) and Ragul Kumar (20.85s). This is also the first time in six attempts that Kujur has beaten Borgohain in a World Athletics-recognised meet. The race ended up being the fastest 200m dash on Indian soil with four sprinters dipping under 21 seconds. Besides the three medallists, Karnataka's Manikanta Hoblidhar ran 20.91 seconds to take the fourth spot. Running in Lane 5, Kujur was steady off the blocks before accelerating at the bend. He opened a decisive lead in the home stretch and led the last 60m to take the title and the record. His now-familiar impersonation of Lightning Bolt duly followed. 'I had a feeling that I would get a good time after the race earlier in the day. I felt like I got a really good push today, especially around the 100m mark. I want to thank my coach, Odisha government and my whole team at Reliance Foundation for always supporting me,' Kujur said after the race. He fell short of the World Championships qualifying mark of 20.16 seconds but has now trained his sights on the elite event. 'My focus is on the World Championships,' he said. Kujur's victory doesn't come as a surprise considering his recent form. He won the gold medal at the Uttarakhand National Games in February with a time of 20.58 seconds. In fact, Kujur had done a golden treble in Dehradun, winning the 100m, 200, and 4X100m relay races with ease. All three results ended up being the Games record -- 10.28s in 100m, 20.58s in 200m, and 39.47s in relays -- even though he missed the then 100m national record by 0.04s and the 200m mark by 0.06s. Speaking to HT after the National Games, Kujur had expressed his desire to become the fastest Indian ever. 'I don't chase records. I want to be the fastest Indian ever, that will take care of the records,' he had said. Kujur followed up that golden campaign with a 200m win at the Indian Open Athletics Meet in Chennai earlier this month where he timed 20.63 seconds. His coach at the Reliance High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, Martin Owens, believes Kujur is still a work in progress and has the potential to reach where no Indian has ventured before. 'Animesh is an eight-year project. He wants to go under 10s and 20s, and he is capable, but that won't happen overnight. It will take a lot of effort from him to get there. I want to see him at the 2032 Olympics, for sure,' Owens had told HT in an earlier interaction. Kujur's performances, over the past season, underline his steady progress. He came close to breaking the 200m mark last year as well when he clocked 20.62 seconds to win the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar, which made him the second-fastest Indian of all time behind Borgohain. He then did 20.65 seconds in the men's 200m final at the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Panchkula before repeating the time at the India Open U-23 Athletics Championships. Kujur also clocked 20.57s at the All India Inter University Athletics Meet last December, but since the competition is not recognised by World Athletics, the mark wasn't ratified. Chithravel meets Worlds mark Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist triple jumper Praveen Chithravel equalled his own national record of 17.37m and qualified for the World Championships to be held in Tokyo this September. The marker was set at 17.22m. The 23-year-old Chithravel, representing JSW, logged his best jump on his third attempt to take the gold. He had first set the national record in Havana in May 2023. 'My plan was to record a jump of 17.20m plus today,' he said. Abdulla Aboobacker was second with a jump of 16.99m while Mohammed Muhassin was third with a leap of 16.28m. After a below-par 2024 where he crossed the 17m-mark only once besides finishing 12th in his qualifying round at the Paris Olympics, Chithravel has started the season well. He won gold at the Uttarakhand National Games in February with a modest 16.50m before logging a 17.13m effort at the Indian Open Jumps Competition in Bengaluru in March for a second-place result. In women's long jump, Shaili Singh cleared 6.64m to win the gold and break the 23-year-old meet record of 6.59m, set by her mentor Anju Bobby George. Ancy Sojan (6.46m) and Moumita Mondal (6.45m) finished second and third respectively.
