Neeru Pathak sets U18 national record, qualifies for World U20 C'ships

Neeru Pathak produced a scintillating performance to set up a new U18 national record in women's 400m at the National Youth Athletics Championships in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, on Sunday.

By attaining the feat, Neeru also breached the qualification mark for the World U20 Championships. She clocked 52.85s to win the yellow metal. 

Neeru showed excellent sprinting skills throughout the competition to claim this title. This was also the fourth-best U18 timing in 400m in the world this year.

Earlier, she topped Heat 3 with another good timing of 54.93s to qualify for the semifinals, where she again clocked a sub-55 timing of 54.94s and confirmed her place in the final. 

In the men's 400m, the rising youngster, Bapi Handsa, continued his fine form and clocked a meet-record timing of 47.12s to clinch the gold medal. However, Bapi didn't get close to his personal best timing (46.90s), but he still will be happy with his performance.

Abhinaya Rajarajan, who recently qualified for the World U20 Athletics Championships, continued to impress and claimed the gold medal in women's 100m clocking 12.09s.