Seasoned Nayana lands gold with giant leap

Bengaluru: Seasoned campaigner Nayana James made full use of the new synthetic track at the Anju Bobby High Performance Centre, registering the third biggest leap by an Indian—6.67m — to win the women’s long jump gold at the 3rd Indian Open Jumps competition here on Wednesday. Rising star Shaili Singh settled for the silver with a best of 6.4m.Nayana, 28, who won the bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, served another reminder with an attempt which was behind Anju Bobby George’s national record (6.83m, Athens, 2004) and Shaili’s 6.76m (Bengaluru, 2023). Despite starting and ending with a foul, Nayana had two more good jumps measuring 6.64m and 6.48m. Shaili's training partner Susmita took the bronze with a PB of 6.28m."I had prepared well and am happy I could achieve my personal best. I was gunning for the Olympic qualification mark (6.86m) and I'm confident of improving this performance in the Indian Grand Prix 1 meet next month," Nayana told TOI while displaying her special Olympic-rings golden locket that reminds her of her goal. It was a giant improvement from her previous best of 6.55m at Patiala in 2017.Shaili, who trains under Bobby George and Anju, failed to exploit the ‘home advantage’. "I struggled with my run-up and was checking before take-off. I need to work hard in the coming months," the youngster admitted.The former World junior medallist opened with 6.35 but could improve it only by five centimetres for her best effort which came in her fourth attempt.Sandesh, Pavana shineBengaluru’s Jesse Sandesh bagged the men's high jump gold, equalling his season's best of 2.20m which he managed in Luxembourg last month. That was a good 10 centimetres clear of second and third-placed Aadarsh Ram (TN) and Swadhin Kumar Majhi of Odisha. In women's U-20 long jump, Karnataka’s Pavana Nagaraj, 18, bagged the top spot with 6.17m that put her fourth in the overall list. It was a centimetre better than her performance in Goa last year. Pavana had recently won the gold at the Junior Federation Cup meet. Sindhushree G bagged another medal for Karnataka with a bronze in women's pole vault. In the battle between CWG medallists, Abdulla Aboobacker pipped Eldhose Paul to win the men's triple jump gold with a best of 16.76m. Paul touched 16.45m to push Selva Prabhu (TN, 16.32m) to the third spot.Results: Men: High Jump: 1. Jesse Sandesh (Kar, 2.2m); 2. Aadarsh Ram (TN, 2.1); 3. Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odi, 2.1); Long Jump: 1. Mohd Anees Yahiya (Ker, 7.94m); 2. Aditya Kumar Singh (MP, 7.78); 3. Vishnu Siva Sankar (Del, 7.5); Pole Vault: 1. M Gowtham (TN, 5.1); 2. Reegan G (TN, 5); 3. Shekhar Kumar Pandey (UP, 4.9); Triple Jump: 1. Abdulla Aboobacker (Ker, 16.76m), 2. Eldhose Paul (Ker, 16.45), 3. Selva Prabhu (TN, 16.32); Women: High Jump: 1. Athira Somaraj (Ker, 1.76m); 2. Kevinaa Ashwine Annavi (TN, 1.74); 3. Khushi (Har, 1.68); Long Jump: 1. Nayana James (Ker, 6.67m); 2. Shaili Singh (UP, 6.4); 3. Susmita (Raj, 6.28); Pole vault: 1. Pavithra Venkatesh (TN, 4.15); 2. Mariya Jaison (Ker, 3.8); 3. Sindhushree G (Kar, 3.8); Triple Jump: 1. Poorva Hitesh Savant (Mah, 13.31); 2. Sharvari Avinash Parule (Mah, 13.31); 3. Sheena NV (Ker, 13.18).