Two MP Vaulters Break 5.41m National Record at Ranchi Nationals

In a dramatic finale to the pole vault competition at the 29th National Senior Athletics Championships in Ranchi, Madhya Pradesh teammates Dev Kumar Meena and Kuldeep Kumar both cleared 5.45 meters on Sunday, erasing the national record of 5.41 meters set by Kuldeep only recently in Bhubaneswar. Meena secured gold on countback while Kuldeep took silver. Both performances sailed past the Commonwealth Games qualifying height of 5.25 meters, virtually guaranteeing their participation in Birmingham. The previous meet record of 5.35 meters, previously set by Meena, was also eclipsed. Field events stole the spotlight after sprinters had dominated Saturday. Murali Sreeshankar’s 8.08-meter long jump exceeded the CWG standard, while Sarvesh Anil Kushare cleared 2.28 meters in the high jump to equal the meet record and surpass the qualifying mark. Tejas Ashok Shirke improved the 110-meter hurdles meet record to 13.50 seconds but fell short of the 13.39-second CWG cut. Ravina’s 44:29.66 clocking in the women’s 10,000-meter race walk secured another qualifying berth for Haryana.