Shaili Singh Tops Qualification to Enter Long Jump Final at U-20 World Championships
Shaili Singh in action during the long jump qualification round at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Nairobi on Friday (Pic: SAI Media, Twitter).
Shaili Singh, a pre-competition medal prospect, entered the final of the women’s long jump event at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Nairobi on Friday. She topped the qualification round with an effort of 6.40m.
Shaili, 17, achieved her best mark of the day in her third and final jump, after starting off with a 6.34m in Group B. Her second jump was a below par 5.98m. The final will be staged on Sunday.
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Sweden''s 18-year-old Maja Askag, who had won the European U-20 title last month, qualified as second best overall after winning Group A with a best jump of 6.39m. Lissandra Maysa Campos (6.36m) of Brazil, Shantae Foreman (6.27m) of Jamaica and Mariia Horielova (6.24m) of Ukraine, who qualified as third, fourth and fifth respectively, have jumped beyond 6.40m this season. So it is going to be a tough affair for Shaili, who trains in Bengaluru under Bobby George, and is mentored by Anju Bobby George at her academy.
Shaili, who had won the long jump event at the National (Senior) Inter-State Championships in June with an effort of 6.48m, is the current U-18 world No. 2 and the U-20 national record holder.
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In other events, Nandini Agasara qualified for women''s 100m hurdles semifinals after finishing fourth in heat 4 and 21st overall.
But Tejas Shirse (men''s 110m hurdles; 5th in heat 3), Pooja (women''s 1500m; 11th in heat 1) and Shanmuga Srinivas (men''s 200m; 5th in heat 2) failed to advance to the semifinals.
(With additions from PTI)
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