Mayookha Johny became only the third Indian athlete ever to qualify for an individual final of the World athletics championships on Saturday when she finished 10th in the long jump qualification round with a jump of 6.53 metres.
The Kerala woman, though not at her best, was able to come up with a series of 6.52, foul, 6.53 that proved sufficient for qualification on a day when many of the top-notchers struggled to find their form.
Mayookha, who would be turning 23 on September 4, came sixth in group ‘B', but with group ‘A' contestants producing below-par fare, she was through to Sunday's final.
Long jumper Anju Bobby George (2003 and 2005) and discus thrower Neelam Jaswant Singh (2003) are the other Indian athletes who had progressed beyond qualification rounds in the World championships in the past.
Anju is the only Indian athlete to have won a medal in the senior World championships, the bronze (6.70m) in long jump in Paris in 2003. She came fifth in the 2005 championships in Helsinki.
Neelam came 12th in the 2003 discus final, but spoilt her record by testing positive for a banned stimulant in the next edition of the championships.
Good going
Mayookha has had a good run since coming back from injury last year. Though she failed to get a medal in the Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games she had a personal best 6.64m in long jump last year.
She took the Asian championship long jump gold (6.56m) in Kobe last month, automatically earning qualification to Daegu and bettered the National record in triple jump, with a 14.11m mark, finishing third, that also helped her qualify for the Worlds as well as the Olympics.
Mayookha should be looking out for at least the Olympics qualification mark of 6.65m in the long jump final on Sunday.She will come up in triple jump qualification on August 30.
Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria (6.36m), experienced German Bianca Kappler (6.48m) and Russian Olga Zaytseva, fourth ranked in the world this season with a 7.01m effort last month, were among those who failed to qualify for the long jump final.
American Britney Reese, world leading woman jumper this season, scraped through to the final on her last jump, which measured 6.79m and helped her top group ‘A'.
Harwant finishes 21st
Harwant Kaur finished 21st overall among 24 contestants in the women's discus qualification round in the World championships on Saturday.
The 31-year-old Indian reached 56.49 metres on her second attempt to take the 10th place out of 12 athletes in group ‘B'. She had two other throws of 55.50m and 52.98m.
The automatic qualification mark was 62 metres, incidentally achieved by only five throwers.
Harwant had a season best of 58.78 metres, recorded while winning the National inter-State title in Bangalore last June. She was third in the Asian championships in Kobe, Japan, last month with a throw of 57.99 metres.
Harwant's best performance on the global stage came in the Athens Olympics in 2004, when she finished 13th, just one place out of the final qualification, with a throw of 60.82m. That year, in Kiev, Ukraine, she also threw her best ever, 63.05m.
The 12th and last qualification spot on Saturday went for 59.94m. Nadine Muller of Germany led the qualifiers with 65.54m, while Chinese Li Yanfeng, the season leader (67.98m), came second with 64.44m.
