Continuing a rather underwhelming outing for India at the World Athletics Championships, 100m hurdler and India's national record holder Jyothi Yarraji couldn't progress to the semifinals. On Tuesday, she finished seventh in her heat, another disappointing display in a series of less-than-stellar performances by Indian athletes at the event.
The 23-year-old Yarraji managed a time of 13.05 seconds, placing her seventh in the fourth heat and 29th overall. The semifinals welcomed the first four athletes from each of the five heats along with the next four fastest runners, making a total of 24 qualifiers. The athlete who secured the last spot in the semifinals achieved a time of 12.92s, highlighting Yarraji's shortfall.
Given her past performances and her national record, Yarraji had been tipped to at least advance to the semifinals. However, she was unable to meet these expectations during her debut at the World Championships.
Kendra Harrison of the USA, who clinched a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, topped the list of semifinal qualifiers, clocking a remarkable world record time of 12.24 seconds.
Unfortunately, the pattern of disappointment for India began on the opening day of the championships. Avinash Sable, holding the national record for the 3000m steeplechase, also couldn't make it past the heats, finishing seventh. In the men's 20km race walk final, three Indian athletes lagged at the end of the pack, and young talent Shaili Singh was unable to advance to the women's long jump final.
Meanwhile, Ajay Kumar Saroj set a personal record in the men's 1500m heats, with a time of 3 minutes 38.24 seconds. However, even this commendable effort didn't see him through to the semifinals. Adding to the string of disappointments, none among the Indian men's triple jump contingent – Praveen Chithravel, Eldhose Paul, and Abdulla Aboobacker – reached the final.
Rounding off a challenging weekend for the Indian team, both Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan in the 400m hurdles and Sarvesh Anil Kushare in the high jump failed to progress beyond their respective qualification rounds on Sunday.
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