Shaili Singh roars back with personal best at IGP; qualifies for Asian Games

Bengaluru: U-20 World Championships silver medalist long jumper Shaili Singh roared with a personal best of 6.76m jump winning the gold medal at the 2023 Indian Grand Prix 4 at the Kanteerava Stadium here.

Coming on a back of a subpar performance at the Asian Indoor Championships in Kazakhstan, Shaili produced an all-time second-longest long jump behind her idol and mentor Anju Bobby George.

With this jump, Shaili went past the Asian Games qualifying mark of 6.45m set by AFI but missed the World Championships mark by 9 cm.

"I aimed to achieve the Asian Games qualification in this tournament and I have done it. My coach had the belief that I will achieve this," Shaili told The Bridge on the sidelines of the tournament.

The jump of 6.76m is a 0.28cm improvement from her previous personal best of 6.48cm. Shaili jumped 6.27m at the Asian Indoor Championships in February 2023.

"I have worked hard for this. I had a sub-par outing in Kazakhstan as I went just after the off-season. I have worked on my speed after returning from there and it has helped me here today," Shaili said.

Training under the watchful eyes of Robert Bobby George who is the husband and coach of her idol Anju Bobby George, Shaili is looking to break the national record.

"I know this was very close to the national record and I am after that record. It feels nice to get close to it," she said.

"They both want me to break the record," Shaili laughed at the mention of her breaking Anju's record of 6.83m.

With Asian Games in sight now, Shaili will train at the SAI facility in Bengaluru.

Jyothi Yarraji records 200m PB, Amlan Shines

Amlan Borgohain would not mind conceding the spotlight to her but the way he left the opposition in his wake in the 200m was also creditable.

The Assam sprinter now owns the three fastest times by an Indian in the half-lapper. He set the national record of 20.52 seconds in the Federation Cup in Kozhikode last year and clocked 20.55 at the National Games in Gandhinagar in October last.

Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh), the rising track star, lost out on a chance to attain a sprint double when she was disqualified for a foul start in 100m. However, she overcomes that shock and disappointment to win the 200m with a measure of comfort against Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu).

Running a 200m after a year, she finished in a personal best time of 23.60 seconds.

DP Manu and Rohit Yadav battle in Javelin

DP Manu (Karnataka) and Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) produced a classy men's javelin throw contest, slinging five throws over the 80m mark.

Manu had the two best throws of the evening and won the crown with a best effort of 84.33m. Shivpal Singh (Uttar Pradesh) marked his return to competition with a best effort of 79.70m on his second try.

Trailing in fifth place at the bell, Krishan Kumar (Haryana) caught up with race leader Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh) with just 10m left to the beam and used his long strides to break the favorite's will over the last couple of meters.

Considering that it was only his first 1500m race at the national level after doing well in the 800m, Krishna Kumar was impressive in his victory.

(With PTI Inputs)