Bhubaneswar: Extraordinary performances by three talented athletes—pole vaulter Dev Meena, teenage hammer thrower Anuskha Yadav, and sprinter-cum-hurdler Jyothi Yarraji—further brightened Bhubaneswar’s floodlit Kalinga Stadium on the opening day of the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships on Wednesday.
The three extraordinary performances were the highlights of the evening session of the meet, which started on an exciting note, as several athletes achieved qualification marks in their respective events for the 2026 Asian Games to be held at Aichi–Nagoya in Japan.
Dev Meena, representing Madhya Pradesh, raised the bar to 5.46m, which was better than his own national record, jointly held with training partner Kuldeep Kumar. His Wednesday’s performance was also better than the Asian Games qualification mark of 5.45m.
It is good to improve the national record before going to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, says the newly crowned champion. “The competition was challenging; nonetheless, I’m excited to have enhanced my profile,” says the pole vaulter from Madhya Pradesh.
The top three pole vaulters also improved the meet record of 5.20m set by M Gowtham in 2025.
At the throwing arena, 18-year-old Anushka Yadav was the cynosure of all eyes as she erased the national and meet record. On her way to winning gold, she also booked a berth for the 2026 Asian Games.
Anushka Yadav’s winning throw of 67.02m was better than the National record of 65.25m set by Sarita A Singh in 2017. The meet record of 65.03m was set by Rachna in 2023.
“I’m thankful to my family for all the support as I was on the injured list earlier in March,” jubilant Anushka says of setting the senior national record. “I can’t express my happiness of booking a berth to board a flight to the Japan Asian Games,” says the promising thrower from Uttar Pradesh.
Asian Games silver medallist and national record holder in women’s 100m hurdles, Jyoti Yarraji, was emotional about making a big impression on her comeback after a long hiatus due to injury. “It’s sheer Irony that I got injured on June 24 last year, and after 12 long agonising months of rehab, I’m making a comeback—that too with sub-13 seconds for the 100m hurdles,” says Jyothi Yarraji of winning the women’s 100m hurdles title on Wednesday.
Jyothi Yarraji had bettered the Asian Games qualification mark of 13.34 seconds in the heats, and her gold-medal-winning time was 12.99 seconds.
Nandhini K of Tamil Nadu won silver with a time of 13.22 secs and was the second hurdler to achieve the Asian Games qualification mark.
Tamil Nadu’s triple jumper Lasha Ilango won the gold medal with a leap of 13.89m, improving the meet record and bettering the Asian Games qualification mark of 13.34m.
Earlier, in the morning session, star distance runner Gulveer Singh was a comfortable winner of the men’s 5,000m track race. In the men’s 800m heats, more than ten athletes improved the Asian Games qualification mark of 1:48.80 seconds.
Results:
Men: 5,000m (Asian Games Qualification Time 13:39.18 secs): Gulveer Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 13:52.92 secs, Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 13:54.18 secs, Harmanjot Singh (Punjab) 13:54.60 secs.
Pole vault (AG Q Mark 5.45m): Dev Meena (Madhya Pradesh) 5.46m (NR improves his own national record 5.45m), Reegan G (Tamil Nadu) 5.30m, Kuldeep Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 5.20m.
Women:
5,000m (AG Q Time 15:36.58 secs): Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 16:11.04 secs, Bharti (Haryana) 16:17.10 secs, Ravina Gayakwad (Maharashtra)16:32.92 secs.
Triple jump (AG Q Mark 13:34m): Lasha Ilango (Tamil Nadu) 13.89m, Niharika Vashisht (Punjab) 13.22m, Mallala Anusha (Andhra Pradesh) 13.13m.
100m hurdles (AG Q Time 13.34 secs): Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh) 12.99 seconds, Nandhini K (Tamil Nadu) 13.22 secs, Pragyan P Sahu (Odisha) 13.48 secs.
Hammer Throw (AG Q Mark 61.72m): Anushka Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 67.02m, Tanya Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 61.70m, Harshita Sehrawat (Delhi) 60.92m.
(IANS)
