The trio of Indian men in the Triple Jump competition, Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker and Eldhose Paul, let themselves down as much as Avinash Sable did with what was self-admittedly over-confidence and an inability to think on his feet on the opening day of the the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Saturday.
On a day that started with a thunderstorm and ended with a Championships Record for men’s Shot Putter Ryan Crouser (United States of America) and a World Record for the American Mixed 4x400m Relay squad and was punctuated by the fall of celebrated Dutch runners Sifan Hassan and Femke Bol when within grasp of victory, the Indians Triple Jumpers were quite underwhelming.
Abdulla Aboobacker was the closest to ensuring that there would be an Indian in the men’s Triple Jump final for the second time, but American Chris Bernard (16.71m after two fouls), Portugal’s Tiago Perera (16.77m after two fouls) and Italy’s Tobia Bocchi (16.66m on his final attempt) sneaked past him. Abdulla Aboobacker, who entered with a best 16.95m, finished 15th.
There were greater expectations, not just among Indian fans, that Praveen Chithravel would produce a 17m effort on Saturday evening but that was not to be. Coming as fifth on the world list for the season after a 17.37m effort in Cuba to get the National Record, he was unable to get close to that mark and ended up with a best of 16.38m to be 20th on Saturday.
Commonwealth Games champion Eldhose Paul fared the worst of the trio, not even hitting the 16m mark. For someone whose season’s best of 16.75m in Bhubaneswar in June suggested that he was getting his form back after an injury, his best for the night was a dismal 15.59m, his worst showing this year.
Sable ran comfortably on the outside for the longest time and, for some reason, decided to find his way closer to the inside lane only to realise that he was being bottled. He spent a lot of energy in holding back United States of America’s Bernard Keter that it seemed to shift his focus from the primary task of finishing in the top five to get a berth in the final.
A fair measure of the nature of the middle- and long-distance events can be had from the fact that he had the 14th fastest time among 37 competitors in the three heats but did not get a berth in the final since he finished outside the top 5 in his heats. As he walked on a bridge connecting the stadium with the warm up track, he had not come to terms with his inability to produce the kick.
“I had no shortcoming in my preparation, which was world class, or planning. But I was not able to make the right decision when I was in the lead. I was thinking that with my fitness, I could conserve some energy for the final. I think that was a mistake. It was not hard to finish among the top five in the race,” he said, pausing to both control his emotion and measure his words.
“I was unable to do well in the World Championships (in Eugene) last year. I will work to overcome this. I am not thinking of what others will say. I am feeling back that my hard work over the past few months has gone waste. I was looking forward to delivering something special here,” he said. “I am gutted that I didn’t make it to the final.”
Viewed against such a backdrop, fans of Indian athletics could draw some consolation from Ajay Kumar Saroj recording a personal best time of 3:38.24, the third best ever by an Indian behind Jinson Johnson and Bahadur Prasad. Since he was hardly in the frame for a place in the semifinals, his performance was but a straw for fans to clutch.
Earlier, Shaili Singh opened with a 6.26m and improved to 6.40m on her second try. She had to go past the 6.60m mark to stand a chance of making it to the 12-jumper final but managed a 6.30m on her last attempt to finish 24th among 36 starters. The 19-year-old’s primary goal of qualifying for the final was a bridge too far but she would have picked up a few notes by watching better jumpers.
Vikash Singh was the best of the three Indians in the 20km Race Walk against the backdrop of the spectacular Heroes Square commemorating the 1000th year of Hungarian arrival in Europe. He finished 27th in 1 hour 21 minutes 58 seconds, just a shade short of his personal best time of 1:20:05 achieved in Nomi, Japan, earlier this year.
With a time of 1:24:02, Paramjeet Singh Bisht was eight places behind. Despite walking flawlessly enough to merit no cautions from the judges on the course, the 21-year-old would be disappointed that he finished well above his personal best of 1:20:08. Akashdeep, who hold the National Record of 1:19:55 set earlier this year, finished 47th in 1:31:12.
Sarvesh Anil Kushare in men’s High Jump qualification, and T Santhosh Kumar, in the men’s 400m Hurdles heats, will be the two Indians in the forefront on Sunday. They have their tasks cut out. The automatic qualification mark for High Jump is set at 2.30m, 4cm above Sarvesh Kushare’s best, and as many as 22 athletes have cleared greater heights this season.
Santhosh Kumar will have to finish in the top four to secure an automatic berth in the semifinals but he will be aware that there are five athletes who have marked faster times in the men’s 400m Hurdles this season.
The results (finals, Indian performances in finals & qualification):
Men
Shot Put: 1. Ryan Crouser (United States of America) 23.51m (New Championship Record. Old: 22.94, Ryan Croused, Eugene, 2022); 2. Leonardo Fabbri (Italy) 22.34; 3. Joe Kovacs (United States of America) 22.12.
20km Race Walk: 1. Alvaro Martin (Spain) 1:17:32; 2. Perseus Karlstrom (Sweden) 1:17:39; 3. Caio Bonfim (Brazil) 1:17:47; 27. Vikash Singh 1:21:58; 35. Paramjeet Singh Bisht 1:24:02; 47. Akashdeep Singh 1:31:12.
1500m: 35. Ajay Kumar Saroj 3:38.24 (personal best).
3000m Steeplechase: 14. Avinash Sable 8:22.24 (seventh in his heats).
Triple Jump: 15. Abdulla Aboobacker 16.61m; 20. Praveen Chithravel 16.38; 29. Eldhose Paul 15.59.
Women
10000m: 1. Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia) 31:27.18; 2. Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) 31:28.16; 3. Ejgayehu Taye (Ethiopia) 31:28.31.
Long Jump: 24. Shaili Singh 6.40m.
Mixed
4x400m Relay: 1. United States of America (Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes) 3:08.80 (New World & Championships Record. Old WR & CR: 3:09.34, United States of America, Doha, 2019); 2. Great Britain & Northern Ireland 3:11.06; 3. Czech Republic 3:11.98.
