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With no Neeraj, focus on jumpers and Sable at CWG
Long jumpers Sreeshankar and Mohammed Anees Yahiya failed to impress at the World Championships, while high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has an outside chance for a medal
With India’s surefire medal hope Neeraj Chopra out injured, long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya will hope to provide spark to their campaign when the Commonwealth Games athletics events begin at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Tuesday. Both have cleared 8 metres many times this season, and will look to rebound from the disappointment at last month's Eugene World Championships. Sreeshankar finished seventh (7.96m) while Yahiya failed to make it to the finals.
The absence of CWG record holder and defending champion Luvo Manyonga—the South African is serving a four-year doping ban—raises the medal hopes of the Indians though a lot will hinge on their ability to go past the 8m mark in what is expected to still be a strong field.
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High jumper Tejaswin Shankar, who was cleared to participate at the last minute after a Delhi high court order following his initial non-selection, will aim to improve on his sixth-place finish at 2018 Gold Coast, where he cleared 2.24m. The national record holder achieved a season's best of 2.27m to win the NCAA title in the US and that should keep him in contention for a podium finish.
Also vying for a medal will be veteran woman discus thrower Seema Punia. The 39-year-old has won a medal in each of her four CWG appearances, but gold has been elusive. Given her current form though—she has failed to touch 60m all season—it looks tough.
The absence of defending champion and Olympic champion Chopra has presented an excellent opportunity to India’s next rung of javelin throwers Rohit Yadav and DP Manu to step up at international level.
Manu has gone past 80m twice this season, including an 84.35m throw at the inter-state meet in June where Yadav threw 82.54m. Yadav has five throws of 80m plus this season though his best was 78.72 in the World Championships final.
The field will be led by Grenada's world champion Anderson Peters (SB 93.07m) and Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott (SB 89.07m)—they won the 2012 and 2016 Olympic titles.
Distance runner Avinash Sable will compete in the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m. The 27-year-old serial record breaker will be up against the Kenyans, who have taken all podium places in the 3000m steeplechase since 1998. In 5,000m, Sable, despite breaking the national record this season (13:25.65), will need a miracle to finish among the top eight considering that 56 Commonwealth athletes have beaten Sable's time this year.
An exciting talent to watch will be women’s 100m hurdler Jyothi Yarraji. The 22-year-old has rewritten the national record thrice this season. While a podium place is realistically too much to expect considering the glut of sub-13sec timings by Commonwealth athletes this year, the athlete from Visakhapatnam will hope to at least better her personal best (13.04secs).
