Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary flopped yet again in a big event, as he failed to qualify for the final round to mark a disappointing end to India’s campaign in the 14th IAAF World Championships in Moscow on Friday.
Maheswary finished sixth in Group A qualification round and 13th overall with a best jump of 16.63m, which was well short of his national record of 17.07m and his season’s best of 16.98m.
Those who could clear 17.05m or at least 12 best performers qualify for the final round.
The last qualifier, Gaetan Saku Bafuanga Baya of France also cleared 16.63m but he made to the final round on count-back as his second best jump (16.37m) was better than that of Maheswary (16.28m).
In the women’s 4x400m relay, the Indian quartet of Nirmala, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose and M.R. Poovamma also failed to qualify for the final round to bring curtains on India’s campaign.
Discus thrower Vikas Gowda finished seventh while Khusbir Kaur was 39th in women’s 20km Race Walk though she created a national record in the process. Sudha Singh had failed to qualify for the women’s 3000m steeplechase final round after finishing 23rd overall in the heats.
In men’s 20km Race Walk, Gurmeet Singh and Chandan Singh had finished 33rd and 34th respectively while K.T. Irfan was disqualified after being at sixth spot at the halfway mark.
Basanta Bahadur Rana finished 33rd while Sandeep Kumar was disqualified for rule violations in the men’s 50km Race Walk.
