CHENNAI: One good jump on that particular day. That's been their belief and that's what they have been aspiring to at the World Championships in Eugene. M Sreeshankar and his father and coach, S Murali, are relieved men after qualifying for the long jump final. After a modest outing at the Tokyo Games last year, where he failed to qualify for the final, they were under pressure to exorcise the demons of the past and perform.
On Friday evening in Eugene (Saturday morning here), when Sreeshankar cleared 8m, though .15m short of automatic qualification, he qualified as one of the top 12 jumpers for the final. This is the first time that an Indian has qualified for the final in the men's long jump. Anju Bobby George, who won bronze in the long jump at the Paris Worlds in 2003, was the first ever medallist from India.
"We have come here to do well," said Murali. "Though the jump was not up to our expectation, it was enough to qualify. Saturday (final) will be another day and one good jump is all we need. Hope for the best." He did not want to delve too much into Friday's jump and instead focus more on Saturday. And Sreeshankar's target would be to not fret about results but enjoy and do his best.
Sreeshankar is in fact the second joint leader this season with a jump of 8.36m. Olympic champion, Mitliadis Tentoglou is the other who has touched that mark. The season leader is Simon Ehammer of Switzerland with a jump of 8.45m. However, on Friday, only two men managed to cross the qualifying mark of 8.15m -- Japan's Yuki Hashioka (8.18m) and Marquis Dendy (8.16m).
Murali was relieved to have overcome the qualifying hurdle. It had been quite a torrid time after missing out in Tokyo, where he could not jump his best due to multiple reasons, including fitness. There was criticism and intense scrutiny and that led to unsavoury moments, involving the Athletics Federation of India too. Especially when it came to training in Palakkad, Sreeshankar's hometown rather than shift to a national camp either in Patiala or Benglauru. The two, in their own admission, often had nightmares after dealing with officials.
This season, though, everything seems to have fallen in place for Sreeshankar. The AFI hired a foreign coach for horizontal jumps and the two joined a national camp in Bengaluru in late April. The two focused harder and with a point to prove. The other two jumpers, Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammad Anees Yahya, failed to qualify. Aldrin managed 7.79m, while Anees 7.73m.
In the 3000m steeplechase, the ever-improving Avinash Sable once again showed consistency to qualify automatically for the final on Monday night (Tuesday morning India time). The national record-holder, who had been training in the US for more than two months, clocked 8:18.75s.