Nat'l record for Dev Meena; Rupal, Jyothi shine

POLE vaulter Dev Meena from Madhya Pradesh climbed new heights at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition here on Tuesday.

- MANISHA VCS @Kochi

POLE vaulter Dev Meena from Madhya Pradesh climbed new heights at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition here on Tuesday. Clinching the gold after easing past 5.35m, Meena has re-written his own national record of 5.30 set in Dehradun in February this year.

However, despite creating a national record, Meena was disappointed for not attaining the Asian Championships qualifying norm, missing it by just 0.16m set by the Athletics Federation of India. "I am slightly disappointed that I couldn't make the cut for the championship. But beyond that, I was concerned of a potential injury if I pushed forth and stopped here as my coach suggested," Meena told reporters.