My focus is on first three attempts: Aboobacker

Kochi: Abdulla Aboobacker shot into prominence with a silver medal, in what was a memorable 1-2 finish for India in triple jump, at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year. However, it was his training partner, Eldhose Paul, who deservedly walked away with more plaudits, including an Arjuna award, for his gold medal in the same event. With Eldhose on the sidelines nursing a heel injury, the responsibility was on Aboobacker to deliver at the recently concluded Asian Athletics Championships. And he didn’t disappoint. With an effort of 16.92m, the Kerala jumper came out on top in Bangkok. With the World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in September, Aboobacker has a busy season ahead. Though Aboobacker has a personal best of 17.19m, set at the 2022 Indian Grand Prix in Bhubaneshwar, the 27-year-old has been hovering around the 16.7 mark in competitions this year. And he isn’t impressed. “It’s great that results are coming but I’m yet to breach my personal best. My target is to hit the 17m mark consistently,” Aboobacker spells out his target. He had a disappointing World Athletics Championships debut in Oregon last year, where he performed far below expectations and finished tenth in the qualifiers with an effort of 16.45m. But he is better off with that experience and is keen to make amends. “I know exactly what went wrong at Oregon. It was my first international meet and I was inexperienced. Moreover, I was slightly overconfident. I prepared for the World Athletics Championships much in the same way I train for a national event. I didn’t have a travelling coach with me in Oregon and committed some technical mistakes. Though they were minor errors, they showed up in the final result. I want to make sure that I don’t repeat those and put up a better performance at Budapest,” said Aboobacker.The Indian Air Force athlete is ranked 12th in men’s triple jump and occupies 16th spot in list of world’s leading jumps this year. Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert has produced season’s best in 2023, with a leap of 17.83. So Aboobacker knows the challenge ahead and is training intensely under foreign coach Denis Kapustin in Bengaluru focusing on the Worlds. “Currently, I’m taking more load and plan to lighten the training as the championship nears. My best efforts come in my first three attempts. So I’m currently concentrating on my initial three jumps,” said Aboobacker.“World Championships is going to be tough. A huge effort will be required to achieve something great at Budapest,” he added.Aboobacker says that as a soldier he is more than happy to win a medal for India in the Asian Games but as an athlete he feels World Championships is more important. “Winning a medal for the country and a medal at Worlds are two different feelings. At present, I’m trying to give my best at the Worlds and then hope to carry on the same into the Asian Games,” said Abdulla.

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