AFI to offer another chance for Jeswin, Aishwarya and Arokia

Jeswin, who needed to jump "close to" 8.10m to qualify, could only jump 7.99m at the selection trials held at the newly laid synthetic track at LNCPE Kariyavattom.

Jeswin Aldrin in action at the men's long jump event at the Indian Grand Prix in Thiruvananthapuram on March 13, 2022.

With long jumper Jeswin Aldrin and quartermilers Aishwarya Mishra and Arokia Rajiv failing to achieve the targets set by the Athletics Federation of India at the World Championships trials held in Thiruvananthapuram’s LNCPE on Monday, the national body has decided to conduct retrials in Patiala on Friday.

“They did not meet the standards. We have informed all three that they can do one more trial on July 8 along with the junior World championship final trial,” Adille Sumariwalla, the AFI president, told Sportstar on Monday.

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Aldrin struggled with his run up and managed to hit the take off board only twice during his six attempts. Though he managed to cross 7.90m thrice, Aldrin couldn't reach anywhere near the qualifying mark of 8.10m. His best jump was 7.99m.

A disappointed Aldrin said he tried his best though he wasn't fully fit. "Obviously, I am disappointed. I thought the conditions were perfect but I was not at my best physically as I had just recovered from a bout of fever. The four days of travelling took its toll as I felt very weak during the jumps,'' he said.

Earlier, Aishwarya Mishra clocked a modest 53.15 in the women's 400m selection trials while in the men's 400m, Arokiya Rajiv came up with a mediocre timing of 47.89s.

Stars like quartermiler Priya H. Mohan will be attending the junior trials, to pick the Indian team for the under-20 Worlds (in Cali, Colombia, from August 1-6), but it is not clear whether they will be competing with the three who would be hoping to attain the AFI’s targets for the Worlds which begin in Oregon, US, on July 15.

“I don’t know the set-up of that trial,” said Sumariwalla.