Zurich Diamond League will be a good chance for Murali Sreeshankar to redeem himself

India’s 24 years old Asian silver medalist in men’s long jump, Murali Sreeshankar, hopes to redeem himself as he steps at the jumping arena of the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday.

Despite having an advantage of vast international exposure this year and earning a third spot in global rankings, Sreeshankar faltered at the recently concluded 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships held in Hungary.

His best jump of 7.74m in the qualification round wasn’t good enough to fetch him a place in the medal round.

The prestigious one-day competition in Zurich will give the Indian long jumper another opportunity to test his rhythm ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to be held in China from September.

A good performance will certainly boost his confidence, while an average performance in Zurich might give him sleepless nights before the Asian Games in China.

After a disappointing show at Budapest, Sreeshankar opted to keep silent.

On the other hand, the Tokyo Olympian and 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medalists poured out his emotions after winning his ticket to the Paris Olympic Games during the July 12 to 16 Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok.

The long jumper said:

“I’m happy to have successfully achieved the qualification mark for the Olympic Games this year. With nearly 12 months to go for the Olympics I’ve ample time to further polish my jumping skills.”

There has been a huge fluctuation in Sreeshankar's performance graph this season. He was excited to record back-to-back massive jumps of 8.41m and 8.37m in June and July, but was downcast after a moderate jump of 7.74m at Worlds.

The athlete made his debut at the Worlds in 2019. He was a finalist at the 2022 Eugene World Athletics Championships.

In the weeks leading to the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships the Indian long jumper was a marked man. Unfortunately, he didn’t live up to his billing.

Greece Olympic and world champion Miltiadis Tentoglou will also be in action in Zurich. As many as 14 newly crowned world champions will compete in the Swiss city, including India's Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra.