Indian Open Jumps Competition 2022: Murali Sreeshankar wins long jump gold medal
Asian Games triple jump champion Arpinder Singh, meanwhile, was unable to meet the qualifying standards for both the Commonwealth and the Asian Games.
National record holder Murali Sreeshankar won the gold medal in the men’s long jump event at the inaugural Indian Open Jumps Competition 2022 at the Chandrasekharan Nair Police Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Tuesday.
Murali Sreeshankar, who endured a disappointing campaign at the Tokyo Olympics, needed to touch 7.98m and 8.00m to meet the qualifying standards for the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, respectively.
Murali Sreeshankar notched 8.14m in his first try and improved with the 8.17m-jump in his sixth and final attempt to breach the mark for both the events convincingly. It was his career’s third-best attempt.
Second-placed Muhammed Anees Yahiya, younger brother of Asian Games gold medallist runner Muhammed Anas Yahiya, wasn’t far behind and hit the personal best of 8.15m to also make the cut for the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Yugant Shekar Singh finished third with a 7.61m effort.
Overall, six Indian athletes, including Murali Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya, made the cut for the showpiece events on the day.
In the men’s triple jump event, however, reigning Asian Games champion Arpinder Singh failed to meet the qualifying standards with his 16.02m jump.
While the qualification mark required in the triple jump for the Asian Games is 16.43m, athletes need to breach the 16.28m-mark for the Commonwealth Games.
The trio of triple jumpers from Kerala - Eldhose Paul (16.93m), Karthik Unnikrishnan (16.87m) and Abdulla Aboobacker (16.81m) - too met the requirements.
In the women’s long jump, U20 national champion Ancy Sojan produced a best jump of 6.51m to bag gold, thereby also breaching the Commonwealth and the Asian Games qualifying standards.
Ancy Sojan breached the 6.50m and 6.45-mark needed to make the cut for both the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games on her fifth attempt.
Nayana James, a former Asian championships bronze medallist, finished second with a jump of 6.35m. Pooja Saini was third with a 6.12m effort while current U23 national champion Sandra Babu did not start.
Indian athletes will next be seen in action at the Indian Grand Prix 1 and Indian Grand Prix 2 to be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on March 13 and March 23, respectively.
Indian Open Jumps Competition 2022 medal winners
Men
High Jump: 1. Chethan Balasubramanya (Karnataka) 2.09m; 2. Manu Francis (Kerala) 2.09m; 3. Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odisha) 2.09m.
Long Jump: 1. Murali Sreeshankar (Kerala) 8.17m; 2. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Kerala) 8.15m; 3. Yugant Shekar Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 7.61m.
Triple Jump: 1. Eldhose Paul (Kerala) 16.93m; 2. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Kerala) 16.87m; 3. Abdulla Aboobacker (Kerala) 16.81m.
Pole Vault: 1. Avneesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 4.90m; 2. A. Gnana Sone (Tamil Nadu) 4.70m; 3. Sakthi Mahendran (Tamil Nadu) 4.50m.
Women
High Jump: 1. Abhinaya Shetty (Karnataka) 1.82m; 2. Gracena Merly (Tamil Nadu) 1.77m; 3. Angel Devasia (Kerala) 1.74m.
Long Jump: 1. Ancy Sojan (Kerala) 6.51m; 2. Nayana James (Kerala) 6.35m; 3. Pooja Saini (Rajasthan) 6.12m.
Triple Jump: 1. Aleena Jose (Kerala) 12.68m; 2. Sheena V (Kerala) 12.47m; 3. Meera Shibu (Kerala) 12.43m.
Pole Vault: 1. Pavithra Venkatesh (Tamil Nadu) 3.90m; 2. Baranica Elangovan (Tamil Nadu) 3.80m; 3. Divya Mohan (Kerala) 3.70m.