When they soared: Tejaswin Shankar and Siddharth Yadav serve up a Federation Cup duel for the ages

There are two sides to India’s most important athletics meet not having much of a crowd to witness it. The Federation Cup was hardly anything like the Asian Athletics Championships held in 2017 in Bhubaneshwar; merely 50 spectators, not including media or officials were present at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala as compared to the 10,000 average witnessed at the AAC.

The flip side: all of the 50 were in-house residents of NIS and athletes which meant that they knew the participants inside out and were in fact, a ‘knowledgeable crowd’. On the third evening of the 22nd Fed Cup, they sensed that the high point of the meet was near.

While the three days had witnessed some good performances, none was as exciting as the High Jump due to the fact that most winners had one-sided victories, save one or two. Prior to the start of the High Jump competition, it was expected to be more of the same.

Federation Cup’s greatest hour

Indeed, heading into the competition, Tejaswin Shankar was the cynosure of all eyes. Coming off a great first season in the NCAA Collegiate circuit, Shankar would have been expected to walk it, national record and all.

While his 2.28 metres at the Big 12 indoor championships in Ames, Iowa meant that the 19-year-old broke his national record again, while his closest opponent Siddharth Yadav had attended one senior meet in all of his four years.

The 24-year-old Railways employee from Gurugram had struggled through back injuries for the last four years and had managed to win the Open Nationals in Chennai with a 2.23 metres attempt.

And so it unfolded. The greatest hour of the 22nd Federation Cup pitted Shankar, the marquee champion and record holder against Yadav, the mustachioed maverick and rank outsider.

Steep qualifying mark

The 2.25 metre mark set by the Athletics Federation of India as the cut-off for the Commonwealth Games was a steep one with only two Indian men, Shankar himself and the previous record holder, Harishankar Roy, had managing to clear the height before Wednesday.

Shankar was the first to take aim at 2.10 metres. What was supposed to be a routine jump was anything but as the bar came crashing down with a thud. At the last Federation Cup, he hadn’t managed to cross 2.13 metres despite going into the tournament as a heavy favourite. Had the journey from Kansas to Patiala taken its toll?

Yadav also started at 2.10 and his ascension was flawless as 2.14 was cleared effortlessly as well. Shankar was behind unexpectedly but he recovered in style, clearing 2.10, 2.14 and 2.18 with his next three jumps.

The challenger then stumbled at 2.18 as he landed a bad jump on his first attempt at the height. The next was as clean as it got, as Yadav yelled ‘Yeah!’ as he landed on the mat. By this time, all others had fallen away and these two were the last men standing. This was far from over and would be settled mano-a-mano.

The crowd was in it, as they had come to witness Tejaswin do something special but were glad Yadav was giving the Varanasi-born-youngster a run for his money. Tejaswin fouled again at 2.22, Yadav who was pumped up thumped his chest in exhilaration as he soared past the mark. Shankar, Yadav, Shankar, Yadav, this contest was back and forth. The meet record, 2.21 metres by Nikhil Chittarasu in 2014, was long gone.

A close fight

As Shankar recovered to clear the mark, Yadav was in the lead again but the next jump was crucial. Clear this and they would book a ticket to Gold Coast. Fail and they would have to go home; all their efforts for nothing. The unthinkable happened.

Shankar, jumping first, landed a clean jump, and shouted “C’mon!” as the crowd turned raucous. Those who thought that the challenger was finished could not have been more wrong. This gunfight wasn’t over, just yet.

Tejaswin then whispered in Yadav’s ears as the champion and the challenger’s gazes met. Later Yadav would say, “He (Tejaswin) was giving me confidence. He said bhai, if I can do it, so can you.” Shankar would return the compliment. “It’s really difficult in high jump, if you don’t have anyone to push you. I came this far because he pushed me. It’s really healthy to have two jumpers at that distance.”

Yadav stopped for a moment, visualising the challenge ahead of him, before an almighty leap sealed the deal. Off went the shirt, as years of pent-up emotion bared themselves. Struggling through injury and financial difficulty, this was the moment Yadav had yearned for throughout the last 48 months. As the crowd roared and applauded, Tejaswin joined them in clapping for Yadav.

Next up, 2.28 and the national record. Tejaswin matched his feat in Iowa, but the effort seemed to have taken too much out of Yadav. His second attempt didn’t even feature a jump as he plonked down face first on the mat. He would later say, “I got too excited. I should learn to control my emotions better.”

Going for 2.31 alone, Tejaswin almost pulled it off on his third jump but missed it by the width of a hair. The back end of a shoe was what separated him from the winning mark at Glasgow 2014.

Heading into Gold Coast, he will be brimming with confidence, but will have a tough fight on his hands, as at least eight men in the Commonwealth list have jumped higher than 2.28 metres this season. As for Yadav, he will be hoping that this is just the start. Without a High Jump national camp and coach, the Haryana jumper has done extremely well to come this far. Now the question is can he go further?