New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The last season has been an inconsistent one for top Indian triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker but he is hoping to make amends and claim a second successive medal in the Commonwealth Games later this year in Glasgow.
The 30-year-old from Kerala who won a silver in the 2022 CWG in Birmingham with a jump of 17.02m has begun the 2026 season with two jumps of 16.82m and 16.83m, which has given him the confidence to give his best in Glasgow (July 23 to August 2).
“I am not looking at the distance. I am just trying to make amends for my mistakes. If I do that, my distance and performance will be increased, and I will at least be on the podium. That is my target (in 2026 CWG),” Aboobacker told PTI in an interview on Tuesday.
“I did 17.02m in 2022 CWG. Before that, no one knows my history. I worked so hard to get there. I cleared my mistakes. I did everything.
“I am going to achieve my target. If I do 17m there (in Glasgow), I can win a medal. Hopefully, there is no injury. I am feeling very good. I can do even more than national record or something big jump.” Aboobacker’s next competition will be the Federation Cup in Ranchi in May, which will be the final selection event for the Commonwealth Games.
“I think if I have a good competition in the Fed Cup, I will have a good performance in the Commonwealth Games and then in the Asian Games. I need to have two peak performances — one in the CWG and then in the Asian Games.
“I am fully fit and my focus is equally in both (CWG and Asian Games). I will put in all my effort in both,” said Aboobacker who has been with the JSW Sports since 2022.
Aboobacker has a personal best of 17.19m which he achieved in 2022 and equalled early 2025. After the big jump early last year, he could not touch the 17m mark even once. He could only muster 16.33m in the qualifying round of the 2025 Tokyo World Championships and failed to make it to the finals.
“Last season, I tried to improve my performance in the off season. I took part in the competitions but missed out on my workout due to the competitions. I am not doing that this season,” said Aboobacker who currently trains at the Air Force facility in Bengaluru.
He is upbeat about the growth of triple jump in the country.
“In the past, there were very few doing 17m like Arpinder Singh (PB: 17.17m). In this generation, there are five people who can do 17m. We can win medal at Commonwealth, Asian level. We can do much better performance in Olympics and World Championship. Once we reach the top eight, we can even bring a medal.” Aboobacker is also open to competing in indoor events in the coming years, now that India is going to host the World Indoor Championships in Bhubaneswar in 2028.
“I haven’t done an indoor competition yet, but if there are good competitions in India, I will do it. I will do some training and if I get a good competition in India, I will do it. I will focus on that.” Talking about the Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary, Karnataka where he had trained earlier, he said, “I trained there for one year, that was in 2025. You get everything in one place there. All the facilities are top class. India is targeting the Olympics, and so we need such top facilities.” PTI PDS PDS AH
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