Bengaluru, April 4 Making his competitive debut this season, Murali Sreeshankar leapt a commendable 8.15m to win the men's long jump event at the opening Indian Athletics Series here on Saturday.
Sreeshankar, representing NCOE Trivandrum, achieved his winning jump in his fourth attempt, his best performance since returning after a knee surgery in 2024. His best performance last season was 8.13m.
The 27-year-old had missed the 2024 Paris Olympics due to a knee injury. He also participated in the Tokyo World Championships in September last year but failed to qualify for the final round.
On the Kanteerava Stadium jumping pit, Sreeshankar was the only athlete to surpass the 8m mark. Sunny Kumar of Bihar finished second with 7.90m, while Purushotham of Karnataka was third with 7.87m.
The women's long jump event saw tough competition, with Ancy Sojan, representing Reliance, winning the title with a jump of 6.54m, while Shaili Singh of Anju Bobby George Sports Foundation finished second with 6.52m.
Moumita Mondal, also from Reliance, secured third place with a jump of 6.37m.
Tamil Nadu pole vaulter Reagan Ganesh continued his impressive form this season, achieving a personal best of 5.35m to win the event. He had cleared 5.30m at the inaugural National Indoor Championships in Bhubaneswar last month.
In Bhubaneswar, he had actually attempted to better Dev Meena's national record of 5.40m but was unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Tamil Arasu, representing Railways, clinched the 100m title with a time of 10.23 seconds. Tamil Nadu's Giridharani Ravi Kumar won the women's 100m race with a time of 11.53 seconds.
Maharashtra's Sarvesh Kushare, who had become the first Indian high jumper to reach the finals of the World Championships last year, won the title by clearing 2.23m.
Aadarsh Ram of Tamil Nadu was second with an identical 2.23m, while Jesse Sandesh of Karnataka took third place with 2.10m.
In the men's 200m race, the top three finishers all finished in under 21 seconds, with Jishnu Prasad of BSF winning in 20.76 seconds.
Vishal TK of NCOE Trivandrum, the 400m national record holder, finished second with a time of 20.80 seconds, while Tamil Arasu of Railways was third after clocking 20.83 seconds.