BUDAPEST, Aug 23: National record holder long jumper Jeswin Aldrin qualified for his maiden World Athletics Championships finals but fellow competitor Murali Sreeshankar made a shock exit at the qualification round after his worst performance of the season here on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Aldrin, who entered the showpiece as season leader with his 8.42m national record effort in March, cleared 8.0m in his first attempt and fouled his next two jumps. However, that was sufficient for him to make it to the 12-man final to be held on Thursday.
Those who cleared automatic qualification distance of 8.15m or top 12 from the two qualification groups made it to the finals.
Aldrin, who finished sixth in Group B qualification round, was the 12th best performer overall and made it to the finals as the last qualifier.
On Wednesday, he became the second Indian male long jumper to qualify for the finals in the showpiece after Sreeshankar, who had finished seventh in the 2022 World Championships in USA.
The 24-year-old Sreeshankar had a disappointing series of 7.74m, 7.66m and 6.70m as he finished 12th in Group A qualification round and 22nd overall.
His exit in the qualification round was another shocker for the Indian camp reeling under 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable’s failure to make it to the finals. He was expected to at least reach the finals.
Sreeshankar has been more consistent than Aldrin this season, having crossed the 8m mark on many occasions.
He achieved his personal best of 8.41m in Bhubaneswar in June and was entering the World Championships on the back of his silver-winning jump of 8.37m in the Asian Championships in July.
On Wednesday, form deserted Sreeshankar – the Paris Diamond League third place finisher when it mattered the most.
This was his third appearance in the showpiece.
For Aldrin, this was his second appearance in the World Championships. He had crashed out at the qualification round in the 2022 edition in USA.
In a rare feat, two Indians – Aldrin and Sreeshankar had entered the World Championships as first and second ranked long jumpers in the season leaders’ list.
Aldrin has been struggling to touch the 8m mark after his big jump early in the season. He had also faced fitness issues, which led to him missing the Asian Championships in July.
His most recent outing was at the CITIUS Meeting in Bern, Switzerland which he won with 8.22m.
The competition witnessed some dramatic moments with Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece and defending champion Wang Jianan of China finding themselves in danger of missing out on the finals before making the grade with their third and final jumps of 8.25m and 8.34m respectively.
Young Jamaican national champion Wayne Pinnock, 22, stunned the Budapest crowd with a 8.54m new world leading jump in his first attempt in Group A qualification round. He did not take any further jumps.
Asian champion Lin Yu-Tang of Chinese Taipei also missed the final round with a best jump of 7.45m while reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist LaQuan Nairn of Bahamas recorded a ‘No-Mark’ after three foul jumps.
Rani disappoints
The 30-year-old Annu Rani’s disappointing show could raise questions as to why she was sent at all for the showpiece.
She had entered the tournament through world ranking quota, as she did not record a single 60m throw in the four events she participated this season before the World Championships.
She had entered the World Championships after a 54.76m performance in an event in Germany on August 6. Before that, she had finished fourth in the Asian Championships in July with 59.10m.
She had recorded 59.24m and 58.22m in the Federation Cup and National Inter-State Championships in May and June, showing her struggle all through the season so far.
Indian athletes have disappointed so far in the World Championships here. (PTI)
