Eldhose Paul became the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final at the World Championships with an effort of 16.68m in Eugene, Oregon. He finished sixth in the Group A qualification round and 12th overall to make the cut for Sunday's final.
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The 25-year-old Paul, who reached Eugene just a few days ago due to visa issues, has a season's and personal best of 16.99m which he had recorded while winning gold in the Federation Cup in April.
The two other Indians, Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker failed to make it to the finals after best jumps of 16.49m and 16.45m respectively. Chitravel finished eighth in Group A and 17th overall while Aboobacker ended at 10th in Group B and 19th overall.
Those who cleared 17.05m or the 12 best performers across two qualification round groups qualify for the finals.
So who is Eldhose Paul?
The young lad from Ernakulam, Kerala is employed with the Indian Navy, Paul represents Services in the domestic completions. Talking about his training, it is done under the guidance of M Harikrishnan at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru.
The now Worlds finalist is a product of Dronacharya TP Ouseph. He had made his mark while studying at Mar Athanasius College in Kothamangalam.
(Inputs from PTI)
