By Admin 
For the last few months, Praveen Chithravel has been talking about producing something big. The 24-year-old, from Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, was once an inconsistent triple jumper, but the story is very different now. The World No. 23 has been in impressive form this year.
Chithravel equalled his two-year-old National record (17.37m) at the Federation Nationals in Kochi in April, won the Asian Championships silver in South Korea in May and picked up another silver at the World University Games in Germany in July.
A big surprise?
And when Chithravel told this writer recently that a big surprise was coming this year, he appeared very convincing.
“But I will not say how much it will be, then it won’t be a surprise. If I don’t have an injury, it will come,” said Chithravel.
The World Athletics Championships begin in Tokyo on Saturday, and while all eyes will be on defending javelin champion Neeraj Chopra and long jumper M. Sreeshankar, who has made a stunning comeback after major knee surgery, there could be plenty of drama in the men’s triple jump too.
Chithravel’s coach Yoandri Betanzos had predicted that the youngster was capable of jumping 17.50m. Will that happen in Tokyo?
Well, there’s a small issue.
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“Praveen has a problem ankle, but now he is okay. I know the time is very less, he is good, but I need to know his condition just before the competition,” said Betanzos, a two-time Worlds silver medallist from Cuba who coaches Chithravel at JSW’s IIS centre in Ballari, a few hours before the 19-member Indian team’s departure to Tokyo.
“He has been very good this year. If there is no problem with the ankle, he will easily jump 17.50m. His experience is good, power is good… if conditions are good, he will get a big jump. Only thing, I don’t know because he has not been working with his technique properly.
“Before the Federation Cup, if you had asked me, I would have said 17.40 [at the Worlds]. Now, I can’t tell you properly how he’d do. You have to do too much competition in India. If he had not done the Inter-State [in Chennai recently], he would have had 100% recovery now, but we had to do the Inter-State.”
Indeed, the “problem ankle” could cause Chithravel to shift to the long jump for the 2027 World Championships. “In 2027, after the Asian Championships, he will only be doing long jump. He will try qualifying for the Worlds in the long jump because triple jump will be very hard on his ankle,” Betanzos said. “Too much of triple jump is not good for his body.”
That could shift the spotlight to Abdulla Aboobacker, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist and the 2023 Asian champion who is two rungs below Chithravel in India’s all-time triple jump performance list.
Overseas mission: Abdulla Aboobacker, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist, wants to produce his best in big events. ‘We are not going to get anything by breaking the national record at home,’ he says.
| Photo Credit:
K. Murali Kumar
Like Chithravel, Aboobacker has also equalled his personal best (17.19m) this year but the 29-year-old Air Force athlete is not predicting anything.
“I want to put in my maximum effort, there’s no point in having great expectations. It has to be our day, that’s the main thing,” said Aboobacker, the World No. 28 who hails from Kozhikode.
“I have to see how things are, how the situation there is, my body condition there and I’ve got to take care while training.”
Incidentally, both Chithravel and Aboobacker have registered better jumps than Spain’s Olympic champion Jordan Diaz Fortun (season best 17.16m) this year. And Burkina Faso’s defending world champion Hugues Fabrice Zango has a best of only 17.21m this season.
Keeping it real
But though these stats look good, Aboobacker felt they won’t be of any help in Tokyo.
“Since they have won medals at the Worlds, their mind will be free…and if you look at the other side, there are two to three guys who have done 17.50m this year,” explained Aboobacker.
“So, I don’t focus on others. As far as possible, I try to produce a performance that does not have any mistakes.”
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Three years ago, Kerala’s Eldhose Paul (wind-aided 17.03m) and Aboobacker (17.02) came up with a historic gold and silver performance at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in Britain, the home of world record holder Jonathan Edwards (18.29m, 1995). That was the first time an Indian won a triple jump gold at the Commonwealth Games. Chithravel was fourth in Birmingham, having missed the bronze by just four centimetres.
Having tasted a major medal with an impressive jump, Aboobacker is keen to produce his best jumps in big championships.
“There is no point in producing a big jump in national meets, we need to break the national record in events like the Asian Games or Commonwealth Games. We are not going to get anything by breaking the national record at home,” said Aboobacker, who has been one of India’s most consistent triple jumpers over the last few years.
“Even if I do 17.50 in a national meet, I will not get anything. If we do something like that in the Olympics or other majors, we can get something, a good medal. That will also improve our self-confidence. We are capable of doing over 17.50m…17.50 is not a big deal, I can also do 17.50.”
This will be the third straight World Championships for both Chithravel and Aboobacker and the two have not entered the final so far. Eldhose Paul, who is recovering from injury, is the lone Indian to enter the triple jump final at the Worlds, having achieved the feat in Oregon 2022, where he finished ninth.
Aboobacker missed securing the last berth for the 12-man final at the most recent Worlds in Budapest in 2023 by just 10cms. Now he has an idea of what he needs to do to make the Tokyo final.
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“Almost every time, something like 16.80m would take the last berth for the final. I think that would be the situation this time too. If we go over 17.30, there is a good chance of getting a medal.”
Like Chithravel, Aboobacker is also supported by JSW, but he trains under Air Force coach M. Harikrishnan, who has been guiding him since 2019. But Harikrishnan will not be in Tokyo.
Emergency measures
In 2022, no coach was sent to the Worlds and the Commonwealth Games despite three triple jumpers qualifying for both the events, and Harikrishnan had to conduct online sessions at midnight, through video chats, correcting techniques and motivating the athletes.
“It could be the same with Aboobacker this time,” said Harikrishnan.
Aboobacker finished higher than Chithravel at the 2023 Worlds (15th overall vs. 20th) and the 2024 Paris Olympics (21st vs. 27th), while Chithravel was better at the 2022 Worlds (17th vs. 19th). It will be interesting to follow the battle between the two in Tokyo.