Delhi (The Stellar News): Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final at the World Championships with an effort of 16.68m in Eugene, Oregon. He finished sixth in Group A qualification round and 12th overall to make the cut for Sunday’s final (6:50am IST).
The 25-year-old Paul, who reached Eugene just a few days ago due to visa issues, has season’s and personal best of 16.99m which he had recorded while winning gold in the Federation Cup in April.
The two other Indians, Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker failed to make it to the finals after best jumps of 16.49m and 16.45m respectively. Chitravel finished eighth in Group A and 17th overall while Aboobacker ended at 10th in Group B and 19th overall. Both jumpers were way off their personal best marks. Praveen Chithravel has a personal best of 17.18 metres recorded at the National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai back in June and Abdulla Aboobacker’s best is a 17.19m, set at the Indian Grand Prix in Bhubaneswar in May.
The final qualifying mark for the men’s triple jump finals at Oregon 2022 was set at 17.05 metres or at least 12 best performers. A total of five athletes breached the automatic qualifying distance, including Zhu Yaming of China (17.08m) and Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango (17.15m), the Tokyo silver and bronze medallists, respectively.
Those who cleared 17.05m or the 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualify for the finals.
Report: Deepanjot Kaur (Under Training)
