CHENNAI: He has been in a good frame of mind. M Sreeshankar’s father and coach S Murali had been repeating those words during a conversation. After the World Championships, he has recovered both mentally as well as physically. In what could be called a disappointment, Sreeshankar finished seventh in the long jump final at the world with a jump of 7.96m. For a man who has been crossing the 8m mark consistently this season, Commonwealth Games was supposed to be that place where he could redeem himself with a good leap.
Entering the field as the season leader, Sreeshankar needed just one jump to clear the automatic qualification mark of 8 metres. He cleared 8.05m and was definitely better than the 7.96m he managed in the final of the world championships in Eugene last month. His father and coach had been insisting that Sreeshankar had prepared well after the worlds. They had a training stint until July 26 in Eugene and Sreeshankar had been jumping well. “He is relaxed and we are expecting to do well,” is what he said. The 23-year-old qualified from Group A. The next best jump was by Laquan Nairn from the Bahamas who managed 7.90m. Behind him was Jovan van Vuuren who cleared 7.87m.
The other long jumper Mohammad Anees Yahiya, who was in Group B, qualified as top 12 best performers with a jump of 7.68m, which was far off his best of 8.15m. The final is on Thursday.
In women’s shot put, Manpreet Kaur Kaur managed 16.78m, which was off the 18-m automatic qualification mark but managed to qualify as top 12 best performers. Dutee Chand missed out on qualifying for the 100m semifinals after finishing fourth in her heats with a timing of 11.55s.