World Athletics U20 Championships 2022: Long jumper Shaili Singh out with injury
India's Shaili Singh, who won a silver medal at the same competition last year, has failed to recover from a fractured toe
Indian long jumper Shaili Singh was ruled out of next month’s World Athletics U20 Championships 2022 in Cali, Colombia after failing to recover from a toe injury.
Shaili Singh, who announced herself on the global stage by winning the silver medal at the under-20 world championships last year in Nairobi, fractured her right foot during training a few weeks ago.
She was initially expected to recover before the U20 world championships starting August 1 but failed.
“There is a mild fracture on her toe,” AFI vice president Anju Bobby George, who scouted Shaili Singh in 2017, told The Hindu. Robert Bobby George, Anju’s husband, coaches Shaili Singh.
“She was doing hurdle jumps during training and hit a hurdle a couple of days before the Patiala trials (for the junior world championships on July 8). The doctor said she’d be okay in one week but she is not able to wear her spikes,” Anju Bobby George added.
“We have sent a letter to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) that she will not be going for the event,” Anju Bobby George, India’s only athlete with a senior world championships medal, said.
At the junior world championships in Nairobi last year, Shaili Singh missed out on a women’s long jump gold medal by 0.1 cm with a 6.59m effort.
The 18-year-old Shaili Singh, however, hasn’t been at her best since due to various reasons. After suffering from a back injury late last year, Shaili Singh was struck with COVID-19 in January.
Returning to competitive action in May this year, Shaili Singh started off with a 6.27m jump to claim bronze at the Indian Grand Prix 4.
Last month at the national inter-state meet, Shaili Singh jumped 6.26m but finished fourth. She, however, won the U20 national Federation Cup with a 6.11m leap.
Currently, Shaili Singh is being treated at the Sports Authority of India’s Bengaluru centre.