With his passport held up at the US Embassy in New Delhi for visa processing for next month’s World Championships at Oregon, long jumper M. Sreeshankar has been forced to pull out of the Stockholm Diamond League on June 30.
“I had my visa interview done today. They had promised to give my passport this evening and I was planning to leave for Stockholm by Tuesday’s 3 a.m. flight,” Sreeshankar told Sportstar from Delhi on Monday night.
“But later, I got information that it would be delayed and that we would know the position only by 2 or 3 p.m. on Tuesday. So, I have to drop the Stockholm Diamond League. I have now informed the meet directors that we (Sreeshankar and his dad-cum-coach S. Murali) won’t be able to make it.
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“This would have been a nice build-up for the Worlds. I had bought all my luggage for Stockholm here. But if we go for an event like the Diamond League with travel fatigue, it could lead to injuries. We have a good chance at the Worlds, so now we have decided to focus directly on that.”
Sreeshankar, who was supposed to compete against the Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou in Stockholm, said the Sports Ministry, SAI and the AFI had tried their best to help him get the passport on time.
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