By Feroz Khan,News18

Copyright news18

Star Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar did not qualify for the finals in the World Championships, finishing 14th in his qualification group, as the country’s athletes continued to perform disappointingly on Monday.
Competing in his third World Championships, Sreeshankar managed only a best jump of 7.78m in his three attempts during the Group A qualification round, marking one of his worst performances in over three years. He ended 25th overall out of 37 competitors.
Athletes who reached the automatic qualifying mark of 8.15m or at least ranked in the top 12 across both groups advanced to the finals.
Since March 2022, Sreeshankar has had only two jumps worse than Monday’s 7.78m. Ironically, one of them was a 7.74m during the qualification round of the 2023 edition of this event, leading to his failure to qualify for the finals of a World Championships for the second consecutive time.
The 26-year-old had reached the finals in the 2022 edition in Eugene, USA, where he finished seventh.
Sreeshankar did not perform well on the big stage. He entered this event with five consecutive titles after returning to action this year, having missed the entire 2024 season, including the Paris Olympics, due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery.
Although his season’s best of 8.13m would not have placed him in the medal bracket, it would have at least qualified him for the finals.
His personal best is 8.41m, achieved in 2023.
In other events, national record holder Parul Chaudhary and Ankita Dhyani disappointed in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, finishing ninth and 11th respectively in their heats.
Overall, Parul ranked 20th while Ankita was 35th – and last – after the three heats.
Parul clocked 9 minutes 22.24 seconds, far outside her national record time of 9 minutes 12.46 seconds and her season’s best of 9:12.46. She had qualified for the finals in the 2023 edition in Budapest, eventually finishing 10th.
She earned her spot in the event by surpassing the direct qualification mark of 9:18.00, but her poor performance might raise questions, especially since she had not competed for three and a half months before Monday.
Her last competition was in the Asian Championships in Gumi, Korea, where she finished second with a time of 9:12.46.
Previously, she had been training abroad but has been based in Bengaluru since the Asian Championships.
Ankita, who qualified for the event at the last minute following the withdrawal of higher-ranked athletes from other countries, clocked 10:03.22.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, national record holder Tejas Shirse finished sixth in his eight-man heat, failing to qualify for the semifinals.
The 23-year-old, whose national record is 13.41 seconds, clocked 13.57 seconds to finish 29th overall out of 42 competitors. His season’s best is 13.51 seconds.
The top four finishers in each of the five heats plus the next four fastest runners across heats qualified for the semifinal.
Shirse was among the Indian athletes who qualified for the World Championships at the last minute. His visa was also delayed by a few days, making him the last Indian to depart for Tokyo.