Indian long jumper targets Asian Games
Indian long jumper Prajusha Maliakkal has now set her sights on the upcoming Guangzhou Asian Games after winning a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The 23-year-old is aiming to improve her personal best to boost her medal chances in Guangzhou.
“I would like to take it forward and improve my scores," Prajusha said.
Prajusha, a railway employee, wants to improve her personal best mark of 6.55m to 6.70m in the Asian Games.
Thrissur-born Prajusha was actually leading the field in Sunday's long jump competition at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium after posting a jump of 6.47m on her fourth attempt.
But a calf muscle strain slowed her down in her last two jumps. She fouled on her fifth attempt and made only 6.26m on her final jump.
Canada's Alice Falaiye posted a 6.50m jump on her sixth and final attempt to snatch the gold away from Prajusha. Another Canadian Tabia Charles won the bronze medal with a jump of 6.44m.
Prajusha accepted the defeat and admitted that luck was not on her side that day.
"I knew I was in a good standing. So I was not even thinking about getting gold. I just wanted to give my best. My left calf muscle was hurting so I could not take my last two jumps properly," said the Indian, who finished fourth in the triple jump last
week.
India won one gold, four silver and four bronze medals at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. The South Asian nation ranked behind China, Bahrain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the final medal standings.
Among the Indian medallists in Doha was long jumper Anju Bobby George, who finished runner-up to Japan's Kumiko Ikeda. George won the gold medal four years earlier at the Busan Games.
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