Murali Sreeshankar currently has the world’s 2nd-best jump this year 

He jumped his new personal best at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships which saw him qualify for the Asian Games and the World Championships

Kerala’s Commonwealth Games medalist in men’s long jump Sreeshankar Murali stole the show on the penultimate day of the 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

In his opening preliminary round jump, Sreeshankar recorded an 8.41m jump to better the Budapest World Athletics Championship and Hangzhou Asian Games qualification marks. He also improved his own meet record of 8.23m.

Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga stadium has been lucky for Sreeshankar. He first broke the 8m barrier at the same venue in 2018. His father-cum-coach S Murali was hopeful his son would further improve the mark in the medal round on Monday. “He could do better in the final,” Sreeshankar’s father said.

While the World Championship qualification mark was 8.25m, the Athletics Federation of India qualification criteria set for Asian Games was 7.95m.

Tamil Nadu’s Jeswin Aldrin, another leading jumper this season, recorded a best jump of 7.83m in qualification. Aldrin’s personal best recorded earlier in March was 8.42m.

Muhammed Anees Yahiya of Kerala (7.71m) is also among 12 athletes in the final. The men’s long jump final is expected to be a major attraction on Monday.

The women’s long jump qualification round was also the main attraction in the morning session. The leading jumper—Ancy Sojan (6.49m) achieved the Asian Games qualification mark of 6.45m. The final is scheduled for Monday. Nayana James (6.31m) and Shaili Singh (6.27m) were the other two leading jumpers in the field.