Asian Games silver medallist Murali Sreeshankar bowed out in the qualification round of the men’s long jump event at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Monday.
The 26-year-old Indian athlete produced a best effort of 7.78m, with additional legal attempts of 7.59m and 7.70m, to finish 14th in Group A and 25th overall amongst 36 contestants.
He fell well short of the automatic qualifying mark of 8.15m or a place among the top 12 needed to qualify for the final.
M Sreeshankar had returned this season from a long injury layoff following knee surgery that kept him out of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
He entered Tokyo25 on the back of five wins from five events and had posted a season-best 8.13m at the Indian Open in Bhubaneswar last month. His personal best stands at 8.41m, just shy of the national record of 8.42m held by Jeswin Aldrin.
At the 2022 Worlds in Oregon, Sreeshankar reached the final and finished seventh with a leap of 7.96m.
It was also a disappointing day for India’s women’s 3000m steeplechasers.
Parul Chaudhary, the national record-holder with 9:12.46s, clocked 9:22.24s to place ninth in her heat and 20th overall. Parul managed to make the final at the previous edition in Budapest two years ago.
Ankita Dhyani was 11th in her heat with a time of 10:03.22s and 35th overall, last in the field. Both needed top-five finishes in their respective heats to make the final.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Tejas Shirse – India’s national record-holder with 13.41s – clocked 13.57s to finish sixth in his heat. He placed 29th overall among 42 athletes, missing out on the semi-finals.
India have only won three medals at the World Athletics Championships so far.
Anju Bobby George won long jump bronze at Paris 2003, while Neeraj Chopra claimed javelin silver at Oregon 2022 and followed it up with a historic gold at Budapest.
India have sent a 19-member squad – 14 men and five women – to compete across 15 events in Tokyo.