CHENNAI: Long jumper M Sreeshankar was the star of the day at the Indian Grand Prix V in Patiala on Friday as he clinched gold with a leap of 8m — a season-best for the youngster. The season has been a different experience for Sreeshankar, who participated in meets across Europe for the first time in his career. His jump on Friday further indicates his good form after a few good jumps and a couple of medals in his first European stint.
Sreeshankar has already qualified for the World Championships to be held from September 28 to October 6 in Doha after a leap of 8.20m at the Open Nationals in Bhubaneswar last year. However, according to his father and coach Murali, the performance on Friday is bound to help him in the future. “He has been in good form of late. But a season’s best is definitely good for his confidence. With the Inter-State meet also happening, Sree will be in ideal shape and form ahead of the Worlds,” he told this daily.
Shot putter Inderjeet Singh too looked determined to go past the 20m mark. While the World Championship qualifying is pegged at 20.70m, he opened with a season’s best 19.51m.
Despite a good string of four throws in excess of 19m, his opening effort remained his best. He fouled his last two attempts and has to wait till the Inter-State Championships later this month if he wants to qualify for Worlds.
Archana Suseentran (Tamil Nadu) gave the 200m sprint her best and won the two-woman race in a career-best time of 23.18 seconds but could not meet the World Championship qualification standard (23.02 seconds).
Having finished second behind Dutee Chand in the 100m, she returned to the track determined to make the half-lapper one to remember.
With Hina getting left behind quite early in the race, the 25-year-old Archana had to focus on racing against the clock. The result was a dramatic improvement in her personal best from 24.03 seconds in January 2017 to 23.18 seconds.