Commonwealth Games gold medallist Eldhose Paul, silver medallist Abdulla Aboobacker, National champion Karthik Unnikrishnan and World U-20 silver medallist Shaili Singh will be amongst the star points of interest at the third Indian Open Jumps Competition to be held at the Anju Bobby George Foundation right here on Wednesday.
This being an Olympic 12 months, qualification for Paris 2024 will be excessive on the athletes’ minds, with Paul, Aboobacker and Karthik seeking to make the grade in triple bounce and Shaili in lengthy bounce.
But the qualification mark in males’s triple bounce is 17.22m, greater than the private bests of the above male opponents in motion.
“This is the first event of our season. Of course, our goal is to qualify for the Olympics, but we will be looking to improve through the season and do our best in August,” mentioned Karthik on competitors eve.
For younger Shaili, the process will be equally powerful, for the mark in ladies’s lengthy bounce is 6.86m, greater than Anju Bobby George’s long-standing National file of 6.83m from 2004. Shaili’s private greatest is 6.76m and he or she remained upbeat.
“This is like a home track for me,” mentioned Shaili, who trains underneath Robert Bobby George at the Foundation. “I would love to qualify for the Olympics on this track.”