Athletics
Federation Cup: Dev Meena, Kuldeep Kumar set men's pole vault national record
Murali Sreeshankar, Sarvesh Kushare breached 2026 Commonwealth Games qualification standard.
Dev Meena (Photo credit: AFI)
The national record breaking spree in Indian athletics continued on Sunday as Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar broke the men's pole vault national record at the 2026 Federation Cup in Ranchi on Sunday.
Both Dev and Kuldeep cleared a height of 5.45m and now jointly hold the national record in the event. While Dev took the gold medal in the competition, his training partner Kuldeep took home a silver.
The previous Indian national record in men's pole vault stood at 5.41m. It was set earlier in the year by Kuldeep at the Kalinga Indoor Stadium, bettering Dev's old record of 5.40m.
In Ranchi, the two vaulters were at it again and it was Dev, who first broke the shackles with a clearance of 5.42m to reclaim his national record.
Kuldeep improved it to 5.45m just minutes later, before Dev also cleared the distance comfortably to level up.
They later went up to 5.50m but failed to cross the barrier.
Dev and Kuldeep, both of whom train under coach Ghanshyam Yadav at the MP Athletics Academy, also breached the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) set qualification mark for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Sarvesh Kushare falls just short of national record
Meanwhile in men's high jump, Sarvesh Kushare equalled his personal best of 2.28m.
Kushare fell just short of the national record of 2.29m held by Tejaswin Shankar as he cruised to take the gold medal.
Kushare's effort also saw him seal a qualification spot for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he'll look to repeat his heroics from the 2025 World Athletics Championships last year.
Adarsh Ram, with a best effort of 2.22m, also breached the Commonwealth Games qualification standard.
Elsewhere in men's long jump, Murali Sreeshankar took the gold medal with a leap of 8.08m, surpassing the Commonwealth Games qualification mark.
National record holder Jeswin Aldrin faltered in the event, finishing sixth with a paltry 7.73m.
Men's 400m hurdles saw Santhosh Kumar and P Yashas better the 2026 Commonwealth Games qualification mark, while Ravina in women's 10,000m also did the same.