New Delhi, July 31 -- Two years after his Olympic dreams were dashed by a left patellar tendon rupture that almost ended his career, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar courted success on international stage, winning a creditable silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. A silver medallist from Birmingham edition of CWG in 2022, Sreeshankar repeated the feat with a best of 8.09m that came on his second attempt after holding the lead till the fourth try before Jamaica's Tajay Gayle stole his thunder. Scotland's Stephen Mackenzie was third with 8.08m. In what appeared to be conducive conditions for jumping, Jamaica's three-time World Championships medallist Gayle opened the competition with an impressive jump of 8.08m that put him in joint lead with Mackenzie at the end of the opening series. Sreeshankar's started with a solid 8.03m while compatriot Lokesh Sathyanathan opened with 7.97m. His second attempt of 8.09m gave him the lead until Gayle threw the gauntlet at him. Tall, powerful, and blessed with a natural fluid technique, he took the lead on his fourth attempt with 8.15m. Lead lost, Sreeshankar calmed himself with a few deep breaths before beginning his run. It appeared to be a decent jump but it didn't matter as the effort was deemed a foul. With two attempts left, a visibly nervous Sreeshankar could produce only a 7.94m. He signed off with 7.97m, with his series reading 8.03m, 8.09m, x, x, 7.94, and 7.97m. A win would have made Sreeshankar the first Indian to win a long jump event in CWG history. The otehr Indian, Sathyanathan ended fifth with a best of 7.97m that he jumped on his first go. The 27-year-old struggled for rhythm thereafter. His run-up looked off and despite a decent opening, he failed to get going.Despite a season's best of 8.21m which he hit twice this year in the USA, Sathyanathan failed to get a single 8m jump in. His series read 7.97m, 7.70m, 7.49m, 7.65m, 7.32m and 7.62m. Despite missing out on gold, the silver augurs well for Sreeshakar considering the Asian Games that start in two months. What makes Sreeshankar's triumph even more significant is the fact that just about two years back, he was at his lowest ebb. "Forget competing, the doctors told me I may nit even walk again," he had told HT before leaving for Glasgow. Sreeshankar went under the knife in April 2024 and returned to competitions last year. The procedure involved a skin graft and three screws in his knee. The surgery necessitated him to change his approach to training and recovery. Under the guidance of strength and conditioning expert Wayne Lombard, Sreeshankar's current training plans demand a three-hour-five-days-a-week regimen. "Earlier, I used to train six days, but now the body demands more time to recover. I understand my body a lot better now. I have to do a lot of rehab, pre-training activations, and post-training care for my knee," he said. That involves icing, using compression boots for his quadriceps and regular soft tissue work for his hip flexors....