Bengaluru, August 2: Indian long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and Mohammad Anees Yahiya have qualified for the final of the men's long jump event after going past their respective qualifying rounds at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Sreeshankar stormed into the final with his very first jump of 8.05M.

The 23-year-old from Kerala, one of the top Indian medal contenders, was the only athlete in his group to go past the qualifying mark of 8M.

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The lanky youngster was ecstatic and rushed to his coach and the Indian audience soon after his jump.

National record holder Sreeshankar has been in fine form with 8M-plus jumps on many occasions this season though he failed to impress in his seventh place finish at Oregon 2022 final with a best jump of 7.96M.

He could have won at least a bronze had he matched his season's and personal best of 8.36M.

Sreeshankar was heading into Birmingham 2022 as season leader among the athletes from the Commonwealth countries and he kept his good form.

Yahiya make the cut

Meanwhile, Yahiya also reached the final with jumps of 7.49M, 7.68M, and 7.49M in his three attempts.

While Yahiya was slow off the blocks, he improved his show from the second attempt and finished third in his group behind Guyana's Emanuel Archibald and Australia's Christopher Mitrevski.

Both Sreeshankar and Yahiya have cleared 8M many times this season, and are looking to rebound from the disappointment at last month's Eugene World Championships.

At Oregon 2022, Sreeshankar finished seventh (7.96M) while Yahiya had failed to make it to the finals.

National record holder quarter-miler Yahiya was added as a last-minute inclusion to India's 4x400M relay team at Birmingham 2022.

Yahiya replaced injured Rajesh Ramesh.

The Indian athletics squad in Birmingham 2022 is comprising 32 members -- 17 men and 15 women.

India was represented by a 26-member team in the 2018 CWG held at Gold Coast, Australia, where it won a gold, silver and bronze apiece.

Despite the absence of ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who is nursing an injury, India is eyeing a better medal haul from the track and field events this time.