Shaili sets new meet mark, Priya, Summy and Pooja stake claim for World meet berths

Sangrur, July 31: Long jumper Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh) prepared for the World Junior Athletics Championships in Kenya next month by creating a new meet record with a 6.40m in the National Federation Cup Junior U20 Athletics Championships at the War Hero Stadium here on Saturday.

The 17-year-old, who trains in the Anju Bobby George Academy in Bengaluru, had a series of jumps over 6.12, 5.86, 6.26, 5.80 and 6.31 before her final leap took her to 6.40m. She was the only jumper who crossed the 6.00m mark, with Nandini Agasara (Telangana) taking second place with a best of 5.80m.

Karnataka’s Priya H Mohan and Haryana’s Summy breached the qualifying mark for women’s 400m (54.85) with times of 53.32 seconds and 53.37 seconds. Similarly, Pooja (Haryana) staked a claim for a berth in the team to Kenya by winning the 1500m in 4:23.38, well inside the qualifying mark of 4:28.00.

In other men’s events, Tamil Nadu’s S Barath (400m, 47.55 seconds), Haryana’s Satya Dev (1500m, 3:50.73), Rajasthan’s Amit Jangir (5000m) 15:14.33 and Haryana’s Prince (discus throw, 55.16m) emerged winners. Uttarakhand’s Ankita Dhyani (5000m, 17:02.22) and Punjab’s Avneet (Shot Put, 13.69m) topped their respective events in the women’s competition.