Shaili Singh finishes 3rd at Seiko Grand Prix

The 19-year-old recorded her second-best jump en route to the podium finish.

India's Shaili Singh claimed the third spot after leaping 6.65m in the women's Long Jump at the Seiko Grand Prix held in Japan on Sunday (May 21). The 19-year-old's best effort came in the opening series and the wind reading for the same was above the permissible limits (+2.1m/s). This is also the second-best jump by an Indian woman in an overseas competition (first by her coach Anju Bobby George).

Shaili Singh's series - 6.65m, 6.59m, 6.35m, 6.35m, 6.36m, 6.41m

Two of her six attempts was above the 6.50m mark and the second attempt will be her second-best jump (currently) as the first jump of 6.65m (is above the permissible limit). Shaili,19, from Uttar Pradesh recorded her Personal Best mark of 6.76m previous month at the Indian Grand Prix 4 held in Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.

Tokyo Olympian from Germany Maryse Luzolo finished first with a best attempt of 6.79m. The 28-year-old had inconsistent readings (5.58m, 6.19m, 5.84m, 6.68m, 6.79m, and 6.26m) but stood tall when it was required the most. Brooke Buschkuel from Australia leapfrogged Shaili Singh to the second spot in her fourth attempt (6.65m) but finished the event with a best effort of 6.77m (falling short of 0.02m for the top spot).

Top 3 finishes at the Seiko Grand Prix

1.Maryse Luzolo (Germany) - 6.79m

2. Brooke Buschkuel (Australia) - 6.77m

3. Shaili Singh (India) - 6.65m

The Indian youngster has had a good start to the 2023 season (finishing inside the top 3 in two of the three events participated till now). She started her season by finishing fifth at the Asian Indoor Athletics championships held in February. After a few month's break she created a new personal best mark of 6.76m at IGP 4. The third-place finish today will her fetch good ranking points and place her higher in the rankings table.