India's young brigade put a fantastic end to their final day campaign at the World U-20 Athletics Championships. Long Jumper Shaili Singh cruised to glory as she won a silver medal for India. At the end of the 5-day event, India won a total of 3 medals, making this the most successful campaign at the event for the nation.
Shaili came into the event ranked World No. 2. She took the lead after her stunning 6.59-meter jump, but a jaw-dropping effort from Ukraine's Maja Askaj meant she had to settle for silver. Here's more on what transpired during the long jump event.
Long jumper Shaili Singh wins silver in Nairobi
Shaili Singh started with a moderate 6.34-meter jump on her first two attempts. She then leapt through her other competitors to take the lead with a stunning 6.59-meter jump. This could have been the best jump of her career, but due to a tailwind of 2.2m/s, this jump will not be counted as her PB.
However, Shaili's performance was bettered by European Junior Champion Maja Askaj. The youngster executed a stunning 6.60-meter jump to take the lead by just 1cm. Shaili tried her level best to breach this mark but did not succeed and she was only able to pull off a 6.37-meter jump in her final attempt. The disappointment was clearly seen on the face of the youngster, as she knew that she missed out on the gold medal by the slightest of margins.
Twitter reacts to Shaili Singh's silver medal
Shaili Singh was a highly rated medal prospect for India at the event in Nairobi. Fans were excited to catch a glimpse of her on the World Athletics YouTube channel. Although the broadcast didn't show the whole coverage of the event, fans kept waiting for the updates on Twitter. Once the final jump was done, the Indians knew that she had done enough to grab the silver. They took to their social media handles to appreciate her silver medal effort in Nairobi.