Malayali star Sreeshankar Murali continued his stellar return to competition with a fourth title in a row. The 26-year-old long jumper cleared an impressive 8.13m to take first place in India’s maiden World Athletics Bronze Level Continental Tour event at Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
It ain’t over till it’s over. It is one of the oldest sporting cliches. At the very end of the Indian Open World Athletics Continental Tour event in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, Sreeshankar Murali brought that sentiment to life in men’s long jump, as he took a huge leap and landed with 8.13m from takeoff, recording his own season best and the top attempt by any Indian this year in the discipline.
In his comeback season following a knee surgery, Sreeshankar, who jumped 8.05m in Pune last month and had camped here for about a week, excelled at his favourite venue. He leaped close to the 8m mark thrice before pushing himself to get his best of the season in his final attempt.
The performance was short of the Tokyo World Championships direct qualification mark of 8.27 m.
On an evening where Indian performances didn’t quite get the juices flowing, Sreeshankar provided a final flourish in style.
“This is my lucky ground. I crossed my 8m mark here and then achieved my personal best of 8.41m at the same ground during the 2023 Federation Cup. I think this is Bhubaneswar magic, whenever I come here, I do well,” Sreeshankar said after his win.
Until his last jump, it had looked like Sreeshankar would lose to teenager Shahnavaz Khan, who jumped a new personal best of 8.04m. But the experienced Indian brought all his might in the last jump.
Sreeshankar was second in the event after four rounds with a 7.95, trailing National Games gold medallist Shahnavaz Khan (8.04m). However, Sreeshankar produced his best in his final attempt to maintain his perfect record since returning to action.
Sreeshankar had missed more than a year due to a serious injury. He underwent surgery on his knee after April last year and missed the Paris Olympics. He returned to action in July by winning the Indian Open in Pune with 8.05m and took first place in Portugal at the Meeting Maia Cidade do Desporto, with a modest 7.75m.
Earlier this month, Sreeshankar won gold in the Qosanov Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a decent performance of 7.94m. He has a personal best of 8.41m, which was set at the same venue in June 2023.
Sreeshankar tipped his hat to Shahnavaz for pushing him. “I’m very happy for Shahnavaz also, he did above 8 meters. He’s very young and he has a long way to go. We train together in Trivandrum, we push each other, fight with each other. And we have a very good rapport,” he said in praise of the youngster who was on the brink of pulling off a big upset.
While the event crew had already started wrapping up the logistics, Sreeshankar’s competitors and the crowd stayed back for his last jump. “I knew he would do it. His mindset is different than others, and I was cheering for his last jump,” said Sunny Kumar, one of the participants watching on in the long jump.
For a moment after the last jump, everyone thought that Sreeshankar might have achieved the World Championships qualification mark. He believed so as well, but it wasn’t to be. “I think in the last jump, I took off early. Like way before the foul board and that is why I gained elevation and lost out on distance,” he explained. “However, I am happy with the fact that I was consistent throughout the competition. I did three jumps above 7.90m and didn’t lose my rhythm.”
