World Athletics Championships 2025: Sreeshankar fails to qualify for long jump final; Parul, Ankita disappoint in 3000m steeplechase

India’s disappointing campaign at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo continued on Monday with long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, sprint hurdler Tejas Shirse, and steeplechasers Parul Chaudhary and Ankita Dhyani failing to progress beyond the first round.

Sreeshankar came back in July after sitting out for more than a year due to a serious knee injury but a late charge helped the 26-year-old Indian to qualify for his fourth World Championships by grabbing the last spot available through the rankings route.

In Tokyo, Asian Games silver medallist Sreeshankar had to either achieve the 8.15m mark or finish inside the top 12 to reach the final. However, he could only produce jumps of 7.78, 7.59m and 7.70m to finish 25th amongst 36 participants.

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Earlier in the day, Parul and Ankita had a disappointing outing in the women’s 3000m steeplechase heats. The two Indians had to finish inside the top five in their respective heats to qualify for the final but their performances were not up to the mark.

Ankita, who has a personal best of 9:31.99s, finished 10th in the first heat. Parul, who set a National Record of 9:12.46s at the Asian Championships in Gumi earlier this year, clocked 9:22.24s to finish ninth in the second heat.

Overall, Parul was placed 20th while Ankita stood 35th and last.

In men’s 110m hurdles, Tejas, who has a National Record of 13.41s, finished sixth in the fifth and final heat with a timing of 13.57s. Top four from every heat along with the four fastest losers from all the heats progressed to the semifinals. Overall, the 23-year-old Indian finished 29th amongst 42 hurdlers.

Published on Sep 15, 2025