Murali Sreeshankar was keen to test himself early in the new season, especially after a disappointing Tokyo Olympics.
Three weeks back, he also fractured his hand in training, though that did not stop him from competing at the Indian Open Jumps Competition in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
He took off the cast for his jumps, and impressed in the season opener by recording three 8m-plus jumps, the best of 8.17m off the last attempt ensuring victory. Muhammed Anees Yahiya pushed him all the way, taking the lead with his last jump of 8.15m, a personal best.
The national record holder (8.26m) though is not used to taking second place at home, and was spurred on with his fellow Kerala jumper Anees too joining in cheering him from the sidelines. Sreeshankar produced the winning leap before breaking into a grin and hugging his main rival.
“I knew he would jump over 8m, but 8.15m was a surprise. We were cheering for each other. It was a really good competition,” said Sreeshankar.
“I had prepared for the Asian Indoors, but it was postponed. Then I fractured my hand during training after I hit the hurdle. There were two fractures (metatarsal below the finger). Because of that I had to modify training. I really wanted to start with this competition, so I jumped with that,” he says.
Both Sreeshankar and Anees cleared the Asian Games qualifying distance set by the Athletics Federation of India. However, it remains to be seen whether AFI considers their performances for the qualifying mark as there was no wind gauge, which is a must as only attempts with a tailwind of 2m/sec or less is legal.
There were four other athletes –long jumper Ancy Sojan and three triple Jumpers Eldhose Paul, Karthik Unnikrishnan and Abdulla Aboobacker who achieved the AFI qualification standard for the two big-ticket events. However, their results are also subject to ratification.
“The federation has to take a call on the matter,” said an AFI official.
The Tokyo dip
Still, the effort and his rhythm would boost Sreeshankar going into a busy season. At the Tokyo Olympics, his below par 7.69m jump raised eyebrows and his fitness came under scrutiny. His coach and father S Murali faced the heat from the federation.
Sreeshankar returned and went for rehabilitation to rebuild his strength.
“My rhythm was good but my body is still not at 100 percent. It will take some time to peak. Mentally, it was tough for me and my family during Tokyo. My body condition was bad. I have gradually recovered. Last season, I was easily jumping over 8m in training before the start of season. This time it was difficult but I am glad I did well in my first competition.”
The start of the athletics season has seen some impressive performances from throwers and jumpers, but it remains to be seen how they build up for a hectic year with the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.
Javelin in focus
This will be a season when all eyes will be on the javelin throwers. While Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra is training in the US, the next line of throwers are in focus. Rohit Yadav and Sahil Silwal tested each other at the Indian Open Throws Competition in Patiala on Sunday. Rohit had throws of 77.68m and 77.89m in his final two attempts to beat Silwal, whose best was 77.01m.
Woman shot-putter Abha Khatua was also in the spotlight in Patiala, becoming only the third Indian woman to breach the 17m mark, achieving 17.09m. The 26-year-old, who switched from heptathlon, went past the Asian Games qualifying standard set by AFI. Manpreet Kaur, the national record holder at 17.96m, was second with an effort of 16.74m. Men’s Asian Games gold medallist Tajinderpal Singh Toor, who returned after wrist surgery, opened his season with a best of 19.94m.
Some of the events missed the big names early in the season. Tokyo Olympian Kamalpreet Kaur did not enter in discus throw and the seasoned Seema Punia, who threw 63.72m last year, warmed up with 54.39m to win the event.
The men’s triple jump saw an exciting finish with Eldhose Paul, Karthik Unnikrishnan and Abdulla Aboobacker pushing each other. Paul and Unnikrishnan had their personal bests of 16.93m and 16.87m respectively in their final attempts. Aboobacker was third at 16.81m.
Women’s long jump was in the news last year with Shaili Singh winning the world junior silver. She will start her season late, but there were impressive performances from Ancy Sojan and Nayana James with steady, consistent jumps. Sojan, the U20 national champion, had a personal best of 6.51m, becoming only the eighth Indian woman to cross the 6.50m mark. James took silver with 6.35m.