Kuldeep Kumar sets meet record to win pole vault as Day 1 concludes at National Open Athletics Championships

Kuldeep Kumar smashed the meet record to win the men’s pole vault at the 65th National Open Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday, Day 1 of the competition. Seven finals produced the first set of champions on the opening day.

The opening day featured a mix of finals, sprint heats and semifinals, and the first five disciplines of the men’s decathlon. Asha Ilango, Giridharani Ravikumar, Nirbhay Chaudhary, Seema Kaliramna, Shampa Gain and Shivaji Madappa were among the athletes who claimed gold alongside Kuldeep Kumar.

Asha Ilango won the women’s triple jump with a best of 13.89m; Shairabi Roy took silver with 13.36m and Shaili Singh claimed bronze with 13.31m, the same mark as Aleena T Saji, who finished fourth on countback. The report noted Shaili’s bronze adds another podium finish for the young jumper after her performances on the international stage earlier this year.

Giridharani Ravikumar prevailed in the women’s 100m final, clocking 11.48 seconds, with Srabani Nanda second in 11.55s and Priyanka Sikarwar third in 11.59s. Giridharani had won her preliminary heat in 11.58s; V Sudheeksha was fourth in 11.70s, followed by Mousumi Roy, Uttam Roy, Charu Shoukeen and Avantika Narale. The women’s 400m semifinals produced Nitisha as the fastest qualifier in 53.80s, with Priya Thakur (54.05s) and Anankha BA (54.12s) in her heat, and Priya Mohan fastest in the second semi in 54.06s.

Seema Kaliramna won the women’s discus with a throw of 57.63m, Nikita Kumari took silver with 52.48m and Sanya Yadav was third with 52.45m; Sunita was fourth with 50.87m, while Bhavana Yadav and Pramila completed the top six. In the men’s hammer, Nirbhay Chaudhary claimed gold with 69.42m, Praveen Kumar earned silver with 67.73m and Ashish Jakhar took bronze with 66.86m; Mohammad Shahban was fourth on 66.12m, followed by Mukul and Devang.

Kuldeep Kumar cleared 5.30m to win the men’s pole vault; Reegan G was second with 5.25m and Rambeer third with 5.10m, while Ramratan, M. Gowtham and Tanuj Kumar all managed 4.90m but did not reach the medals. Shampa Gain won the women’s 5000m in 16:54.56, with Sonam Parmar second in 16:56.52 and Mori Vandana Bharat third in 16:56.62; Ravina Gayakwad finished fourth in 16:59.39, less than five seconds behind the winner.

Shivaji Madappa won the men’s 10,000m in 30:30.54, Gaurav Mathur was second in 30:36.33 and Vinod Singh third in 30:37.13; Abhishek Pal finished fourth in 30:38.54, with Lovepreet Singh fifth and Monu Kumar sixth. The men’s decathlon opened with athletes contesting the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m; Jinoy Jayan recorded the best long jump at 7.25m, ran 100m in 10.70s, cleared 1.92m in the high jump and completed the 400m in 48.44s. In discus qualifying, Nirbhay Singh led Group A with 53.86m and Abhimanyu topped Group B with 52.94m; the discus final will take place on Day 2.

Friday will stage 14 finals across morning and evening sessions, beginning with the men’s and women’s half marathon race walks on the AFI schedule and concluding with the decathlon javelin and 1500m. The evening programme lists the women’s and men’s 400m finals, women’s shot put, men’s triple jump, men’s 100m, men’s discus throw, men’s 110m hurdles, women’s 100m hurdles, the women’s and men’s 1500m finals and the mixed 4x100m relay; the men’s 100m final follows Manikanta Hoblidhar’s 10.30s semifinal in which Laukik Melge (10.36s), Lalu Prasad Bhoi (10.38s) and Harjit (10.38s) also impressed, while the women’s 400m final will come after Nitisha and Priya Mohan emerged as the fastest semifinalists.