Rohit Yadav came up with a massive throw in his final attempt.
| Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT
Javelin thrower Rohit Yadav unleashed a massive throw in his last attempt to qualify for the Asian Games with a new meet record, while long-jumper M. Sreeshankar of Kerala displayed amazing consistency to make the cut with his season best on the concluding day of the National inter-state athletics meet at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.
Rohit, who had achieved his best (83.76m) in Ludhiana earlier this month, recorded four throws between 77m and 80m before hurling the spear to 87.05m in his final attempt to improve his personal best and break Manu D.P.’s four-year-old meet record of 84.35m. He also registered the season’s second best throw in the world behind Sri Lankan Rumesh Pathirage (92.62m).
“Even though I’ve been throwing 85m-plus during training, my personal best has been improving by little margins. I just replicated how I did it during the training and gave my best in the final throw,” said Rohit.
Pumped up by his hunch and pushed by his training partner Shahnavaz Khan, Sreeshankar looked in good rhythm and logged five consecutive 8m-plus jumps with his fourth attempt earning him his season best mark of 8.38m at his favourite venue. It was just three cm less than his personal best and meet record achieved here three years ago. It was the seventh best in the world this season.
“The humidity pushed my body. Shahnavaz gave good competition, it was like training with him. The fine showing of Indian jumpers is a good sign,” said Sreeshankar, whose previous season best 8.15m came in April.
Sreeshankar and his Kerala teammate Ancy Sojan were named the best athletes of the meet.
Uttar Pradesh (71 points) and Haryana (82) won the men’s and women’s team championship respectively while Tamil Nadu was the overall champion with 138 points.
The results (finals): Men: 400m (Asiad Q mark 45.97): 1. Vishal T.K. (TN) 45.43, 2. Manu T.S. (Ker) 45.60, 3. Jay Kumar 45.73; 10,000m (Asiad Q mark 29:00.00): 1. Abhishek Pal (UP) 30:03.88, 2. Sawan Barwal (HP) 30:08.08, 3. Sailesh Kushwaha (Kar) 30:23.13; 3,000m steeplechase (Asiad Q mark 8:36.57): 1. Balkishan (Har) 8:50.98, 2. Sharuk Khan (UP) 8:53.18, 3. Shubham Bhandare (Mah) 8:54.90;
4x400m relay (Asiad Q mark 3:04.23): 1. Tamil Nadu 3:09.32, 2. Karnataka 3:09.51, 3. Kerala 3:09.89; Long jump (Asiad Q mark 7.91m): 1. M. Shreeshankar (Ker) 8.38m, 2. Shahnavaz Khan (UP) 8.30m, 3. David P. (TN) 8.06m; Javelin (Asiad Q mark 77.87m): 1. Rohit Yadav (UP) 87.05m (NMR, Old 84.35m, Manu D.P., 2022), 2. Yashvir Singh (Raj) 83.72m, 3. Sachin Yadav (UP) 82.32m.
Women: 400m (Asiad Q mark 53.72): 1. Prachi (UP) 53.24, 2. Kiran Pahal (Har) 53.45, 3. Devyaniba Zala (Guj) 53.46; 10,000m (Asiad Q mark 33:50.00): 1. Seema (HP) 34:28.75, 2. Soniya (Utk) 34:35.22, 3. Ravina Gayakwad (Mah) 35:44.45; 3,000m steeplechase (Asiad Q mark 9:47.53): 1. Ankita Dhyani (Utk) 9:44.05, 2. Khushbu Gupta (UP) 10:36.47, 3. Kumari Parru (Raj) 10:52.28; High jump (Asiad Q mark 1.80m): 1. Pooja (Har) 1.83m, 2. Supriya B. (Kar) 1.80m, 3. Khyati Mathur (UP) 1.80m; 4x400m relay (Asiad Q mark 3:31.23): 1. Tamil Nadu 3:35.87, Karnataka 3:36.18, 3. Kerala 3:39.70; Heptathlon (after day two) (Asiad Q mark 5605 points): 1. Pooja (Har) 5619, 2. Anamika K. (Ker) 5466, 3. Khushi (Har) 5438.
Published – June 28, 2026 11:45 pm IST