Commonwealth Games 2022 athletics: Dutee Chand crashes out in heats; M Sreeshankar tops long jump qualifiers
Men’s long jumper Muhammed Anees Yahiya and former Asian champion women’s shot putter Manpreet Kaur also qualified for their respective finals.
Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand failed to qualify for the women’s 100m semi-final after finishing outside the top 24 in the heats at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, UK, on Tuesday.
Dutee Chand, India’s most consistent sprinter over the years, clocked 11.55s to finish fourth in heat 5 at the Alexander Stadium. Overall, she was 27th in the field of 48 runners.
Only the top three from the seven heats and the next three fastest runners in the women’s 100m race qualified for the semi-finals.
Other than Dutee Chand’s elimination, India’s track and field campaign started on the right foot with Murali Sreeshankar living up to his potential earlier in the day.
M Sreeshankar aced the men’s long jump event with an 8.05m leap on his first try and did not go for further attempts. His jump was wind assisted by +2.7m/s.
The 23-year-old Tokyo Olympian, who holds India’s national record of 8.36m, was the only long jumper at Birmingham 2022 heats to cross the automatic 8m qualification mark.
Muhammed Anees Yahiya, younger brother of 400m national record holder Muhammed Anas Yahiya, also qualified for Thursday’s 12-men final with an effort of 7.68m. Muhammed Anees Yahiya stood eighth among the 17 long jump athletes.
Former Asian champion women’s shot putter Manpreet Kaur had an easier path to the final with the top 12 out of 13 qualifiers making the cut for finals. Manpreet Kaur finished seventh with her best attempt of 16.78m. Canada’s Sarah Mitton topped with an 18.24m throw.
Later in the day, Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon finished fifth and eighth, respectively, among 11 competitors in the women’s discus throw final.
Seema Punia threw a distance of 55.92m while Navjeet Kaur Dhillon could only manage 53.51m. Seema Punia's personal best is 64.84m while Navjeet's PB is 59.18m.
Nigeria’s Chioma Onyekwerw won the gold with a best throw of 61.70m. England’s Jade Lally (58.42m) and Nigeria’s Obiageri Amaechi (56.99m) won silver and bronze medals, respectively.
This will be the first time Seema Punia will return empty-handed from the Commonwealth Games. Seema Punia had won silver medals in 2006, 2014 and the 2018 editions of the CWG along with a bronze medal in 2010. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon had won bronze in 2018.