Haryana and Madhya Pradesh athletes shine on Day 1 as national junior meet sees thrilling performances
The 23rd National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships began with fireworks on the opening day in Uttar Pradesh, as young athletes from across the country delivered record-breaking performances and signaled a bright future for Indian athletics.
Held at the Madan Mohan Malaviya Sports Stadium, the championships witnessed high drama in the men’s 3000m race, where not one but eight athletes surpassed the previous meet record. Madhya Pradesh’s Vinod Singh led the charge, clinching gold with a remarkable time of 8:14.22, smashing the 2021 record of 8:26.72 set by Ajay. Close behind him were Gujarat’s Vivek Chand (8:14.81) and Chhattisgarh’s Rahul Kumar (8:15.25), both of whom also dipped below the former benchmark in an astonishingly fast race.
Adding to the spectacle, Tamil Nadu’s Kavinraja S made headlines in the pole vault by clearing 5.11m – a new meet record – narrowly surpassing the previous high of 5.10m held by Kuldeep Kumar.
In the sprints, Haryana’s Himanshu delivered a strong performance in the men’s 100m, clocking 10.49 seconds to take the gold. Although just shy of the 2018 record of 10.47s, his finish was enough to edge past Madhya Pradesh’s Abhay Singh (10.50s) and Tamil Nadu’s Varun Oori (10.54s).
The women’s 100m event saw local favourite Nipam from Uttar Pradesh emerge victorious with a time of 11.86 seconds. West Bengal’s Archita Banerjee (11.90s) and Delhi’s Sanjana (12.01s) secured the silver and bronze respectively in a closely contested final.
In the women’s 3000m race, Haryana’s Sanjana Singh outlasted the field to win gold in 9:51.77, narrowly beating Gujarat’s Shilpa Dihora (9:53.19) and Uttar Pradesh’s Anshu (9:53.44), both of whom showed great promise in a tightly packed race.
The discus throw also brought glory to Haryana, with Anisha hurling the disc to 49.62m to claim gold. Her teammate Riddhi followed with 47.68m, while Supriya Attri of NCOE Patiala settled for bronze with a 44.74m effort.
Overall, Day 1 of the championships highlighted the impressive depth of India’s junior talent, with several athletes delivering performances that would not look out of place at senior national level. With more events lined up over the next two days, expectations are high for more records to tumble and new stars to emerge.
The championships are not just a platform for medals but also a crucial scouting ground for the future of Indian athletics—and if Day 1 is any indication, that future looks bright.
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