Murali Sreeshankar, Yahiya qualify for long jump final

BIRMINGHAM: National record holder Murali Sreeshankar topped the men's long jump qualification round to storm into the finals along with Muhammed Anees Yahiya, who qualified as eighth best, at the Commonwealth Games here on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Sreeshankar, a gold medal contender, was the lone athlete to breach the automatic qualification mark of 8m, with an opening round effort of 8.05m in Group A.

He did not make any more attempts. His jump was, however, wind assisted, with a tail wind speed of +2.7m/s. Sreeshankar, who finished seventh in the recent World Championships in Eugene, USA, has a season's and personal best of 8.36m.

Yahiya, on the other hand, finished third in Group B qualification round with a best jump of 7.68m. He has a season's and personal best of 8.15m.

Those who touched the automatic qualification mark of 8m or 12 best performers make it to the finals to be held on August 4.