Bhubaneshwar: Day 3 at the 62nd National Interstate Senior Athletics Championship ended on a high note for the Inspire Institute of Sport’s Triple Jump trio of Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker and Eldhose Paul as all three of them clinched qualification for the Asian Games 2023 later in the year.
What was fascinating to see is yet another consistent jump from the triple jump national record holder Praveen Chithravel who has been constantly breaching the 17-metre mark since the Indian Open Throws and Jumps held in the month of March at the Inspire Institute of Sport. Despite coming fresh out of an injury, Chithravel showed no signs of slowing down as he clinched gold with a jump of 17.07 metres which was easily over the 16.60 metres qualification mark of the Asian Games. While his IIS teammates, Abdulla Aboobacker bagged silver with a best jump of 16.88 metres and Eldhose Paul settled for bronze with a best of 16.75 metres.
Having already qualified for the World Championships with a 17.37-metre leap in Havana, Chithravel spoke about his approach for the inter-state and said, “I was coming on the back of an injury; hence, my objective was to qualify safely for the Asian Games, hence, I didn’t push myself too hard. In addition, we have a packed season with a number of competitions and I have to keep the winning run going. I am thankful to the coach and the entire team for helping me to push through.”
He further talked about his maiden appearance at the Diamond League and said, “I have spoken to Coach Betanzos and he is hopeful that we will get an entry into the Monaco Diamond League to be held on July 21, 2023, owing to the string of results we have put together. I am looking forward to a possible appearance later next month.”
He also talked about the niggle that he was carrying since his jump in Cuba and emphasised that his recovery has been going well. Chithravel said, “Last month I had got a quadricep stretch and have been in recovery since then. I am glad that I feel fully fit now and I am raring to go in the coming competitions.”
