M Sreeshankar Qualifies For Long Jump Finals

Glasgow: Indian long jumper M Sreeshankar made it to the Commonwealth Games final by clearing the qualifying standard in his first attempt here on Monday.

Sreeshankar, whose best of the season was 8.38 meters, jumped 8.01 meters here and earned the right to direct elimination from Group A. The qualification standard was set at 8 meters or at least the top 12 performers.

The 27-year-old hopes to build on the silver medal he won at the 2022 edition of the Games.

He is on his way back after rehabbing his career-threatening knee injury (patellar tendon rupture) in April 2024, which is why he underwent surgery. This collapse had deprived him of the opportunity to make his much-anticipated debut at the Paris Olympics.

He recorded his best performance of the season at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships held in Bhubaneswar just last month.

Lokesh Sathyanathan is the other Indian in contention in the ongoing competition and will compete in Group B later in the day.

The finals will be held on July 29.