CHENNAI: There has been quite a buzz going around M Sreeshankar ever since he crossed that 8.36m in March to rewrite the national record. He shared season's best with Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece. At the World Championships in Eugene, while Tentoglou managed 8.32 for silver, the gold medallist Jianan Wang of China cleared 8.36 for gold. Sreeshankar managed 7.99m.
As the focus shifts to Commonwealth Games athletics that begins from Tuesday, Sreeshankar would once again be on the radar. He missed the Gold Coast Games after suffering from appendicitis. The Birmingham Games would be his real test. He is still the best long jump exponent in the mix and his 8.35m is the best among athletes entered here. He is ranked seventh in the world with top six athletes not from commonwealth nations.
There are 23 entries and Australia's Henry Frayne has a season's best of 8.10 and personal best of 8.34m, while his compatriot Christopher Mitrevski has 8.21m as personal and season best. The qualifying round should not pose much of a problem. After the worlds, Sreeshankar and his father-cum-coach S Murali continued their training in Eugene until July 26 when they flew out to Birmingham.
"He has recovered and is in a good frame of mind," said the coach. "We are hoping to do well. Our training in the US was also very good. Acclimatisation done, now we are looking forward to the competition." The coach said Sreeshankar should perform well. "It's a great opportunity for him to do well and we know the field so we are optimistic," he said. Mohammad Anees is the other long jumper in action.
Discus thrower Seema Punia, who missed the Worlds to concentrate on CWG, will be in action alongside Navjeet Kaur Dhillon. If Seema, who has been training in the US, manages anything above 60m, she could be among medallists.
High jumper Tejaswin Shankar, who has been in the news for not being initially selected in the team should be able to qualify for the final. It will be an exciting and close event as long jumpers like New Zealand's Hamish Kerr, defending champion Brendon Starc of Australia and 38-year-old Donald Thomas are in the list. Tejaswin shared the sixth spot with a jump of 2.24m in Gold Coast Games.
Though Tokyo 2020 javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra withdrew due to injury, India are hoping to do well in athletics this time. Triple jump is another event in which India are expected to win a medal.
Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla, too, is hopeful India would do well this time. "Athletics in CWG is very tough. Last time we won three medals and this time I am hoping the team will do well," he said. "We should do well in both long and triple jumps. Women's discus, too, there is a possibility of winning a medal. Then, in the 4x400m men's, we are expecting to do well. Though we will be missing Neeraj, we expect to win more medals even in men and women javelin, hopefully."