Shaili Singh qualifies for final at World Athletics U-20 Championships

The only shining light from the day was the long jumper Shaili Singh.

It was another disappointing day for the Indian contingent at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. Despite starting the Championships with a bronze medal, the Indian contingent have not lived up to expectations.

The day started with Telegana-based hurdler Nandini Agasara acing the heats in the 100m hurdles. She finished fourth in her heat with a timing of 14.18 seconds. She qualified for the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles. However, her campaign got over in the semis as she finished sixth.

Next up was Tejas Shirshe who competed at the men's 110m hurdles. The Indian hurdler finished fifth in his heat after he clocked a timing of 13.87 seconds. Unfortunately, his timing was not good enough to make it to the next round as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.

[KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

The disappointment continued as Haryana's Pooja took the field in the women's 1500m. However, in a field of 12 athletes, she finished in 11th place, with a timing of 4:37.85 minutes.

The only shining light from the day was the long jumper Shaili Singh, who achieved a distance of 6.40 metres to secure automatic qualification. Shaili is one of India's top medal prospects at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. Shaili finished top of the qualifiers and will compete for a medal in the finals.

Despite Shanmugu Srinivas Nalubothu's best efforts in the men's 200m, he failed to make it to the semi-finals. He finished fifth in the heat and clocked a timing of 21.33 seconds. He missed out on the semis by a whisker!

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News |ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

The highly anticipated men's javelin throw finals were next in the afternoon session. There were a lot of expectations from Indian fans, as both Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana and Jay Kumar qualified for the finals. However, despite their best efforts the duo fell short of medals in the event.

Ajai Rana finished fifth with a distance of 73.68m, whereas Jay Kumar could only achieve a distance of 70.74m, finishing sixth in the rankings. Ajai started well and after three attempts was well within the mix of a podium finish. But, his competitors were simply better on the day. Jay Kumar however struggled throughout the event, but finished with his best throw of 70.74m in his last attempt. Ajai was considered a medal contender, but the youngster failed to up the ante on the big stage.

Lastly, Sunil Jholiya who contested in the 3000m steeplechase heats could only manage an 11th place finish and failed to qualify for the finals.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.