Long jumper Sreeshankar finishes 6th in Diamond League debut

Monaco: Commonwealth Games silver medallist long jumper Murali Sreeshankar finished sixth in his debut Diamond League meeting here with a below-par 7.94m effort.

Six days after winning a historic silver at the Birmingham CWG, Sreeshankar competed in his much-anticipated maiden Diamond League but was far from his best in a strong field under conditions not very ideal for jumping on Wednesday night.

Most of the 10 jumpers faced headwind of above 1m/s in the first round but it got better as the competition progressed.

Sreeshankar had won silver in the CWG six days ago with a best jump of 8.08m. He has a season's and personal best of 8.36m. He had finished seventh in the World Championships in Eugene, USA, last month with a best jump of 7.96m.

The 23-year-old opened with a 7.61m under a 1.5m/s headwind. He bettered it to 7.84m and then followed it by 7.83m. From sixth in the first round, he slipped to eight after the third and just about squeezed into the top eight to save himself from elimination.

Sreeshankar had 7.69m in his fourth attempt and 7.94m in his fifth to leave him at the sixth spot.

Under the revised 'Final Three' rule of the Diamond League, only the top three get the sixth and last attempt.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Maykel Masso of Cuba won the event with a best effort of 8.35m.

World Championships silver medallist and reigning Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece (8.31m) finished second ahead of Marquis Dendy (8.31m) of USA though both had identical best jumps.

Tentoglou had two 8.30m jumps as his second best while Dendy had 8.30m and 8.17m as second and third best jumps.

The 2019 World Championships gold medallist Tajay Gayle of Jamaica was fourth with a best of 8.06m while world indoor silver medallist Thobias Montler of Sweden was fifth with a best

effort of 7.96m.