Several athletes surpass World U20 qualification standards on Day 2 of National Junior Athletics C'ships

Day Two of the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium witnessed a flurry of standout performances as several Indian athletes breached the World U20 qualification standards across multiple events.

Jharkhand’s Parth Singh, the reigning U20 men’s 100m champion, stole the spotlight in the long jump with a personal best leap of 7.82m, setting a new meet record and surpassing the World U20 qualification mark of 7.58m. The previous record of 7.79m, held by S. Lokesh since 2019, was eclipsed. An elated Parth, who trains in Taiwan, said he was “satisfied” with his form and aims to maintain consistency ahead of the 2026 season in Oregon, USA.

Haryana’s Himanshu, the reigning Asian Youth Champion, dominated the U18 javelin throw with an 80.38m effort — comfortably beyond the 68.50m World U20 standard.

His throw also bettered his own meet record of 79.96m set in the qualification round. “I was confident of crossing 80m in the final,” Himanshu said after clinching gold.

In the U20 men’s 400m, all three medallists — Mohammed Ashfaq (Kerala, 46.87s), Sharan M (Tamil Nadu, 47.09s) and Rohit Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh, 47.17s) — met the qualification time of 47.40s.

Among women, Uttar Pradesh’s Neeru Pathak produced a meet record of 53.38s in the U20 women’s 400m, surpassing Jisna Mathew’s 2017 mark of 53.52s and comfortably beating the World U20 cut of 55.20s.

The championships continue to highlight India’s promising junior talent, many of whom are now set to compete for berths at the 2026 World U20 Athletics Championships in Oregon.