Aldrin breaks long jump record

Bengaluru: Tamil Nadu's Jeswin Aldrin decimated his rivals in the absence of CWG silver medallist Murali Sreeshankar to set a National record of 8.42 metres en route to the long jump gold at the Indian Open Throws & Jumps competition in Ballari on Thursday. The new mark was a big improvement on the 8.36m set by Sreeshankar in the Federation Cup in Kozhikode last year. The 21-year-old Aldrin, silver winner at the Asian Indoors with 7.97m, was a cut above the rest as Muhammed Anees Yahiya settled for the second place with 7.85 at the Inspire Institute of Sport. Uttar Pradesh's Rishabh Rishishwar (7.77 m) was third.Aldrin opened with 8.05 and 8.26m before leaping to the record distance in his third attempt. Job done, the Tamil Nadu athlete passed the next three jumps.“The National record has been a while coming and I am happy it has come at a venue where I have been training. It is the result of the hard work turned in here over the last few years,” Aldrin told Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Media after making the triple cut for Worlds, Asian Games and the Paris Olympics. “I now want to repeat this same performance at the global level.” Kerala's Gayathry Sivakumar set a new meet record of 12.98m in women’s triple jump, eclipsing the 12.68m set by Aleena Jose last year. Sindhushree, Abhinaya bag goldFor hosts Karnataka, G Sindhushree won the women's pole vault with 3.50m while Abhinaya Shetty shared the women's high jump gold with UP's Rubina Yadav after a leap of 1.73m. Select results: Men: Long Jump: 1. Jeswin Aldrin (TN, 8.42m NR & MR. Old NR: 8.36m, MR: 8.17m both in 2022 by M Sreeshankar); 2. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Ker, 7.85); 3. Rishabh Rishishwar (UP, 7.77m). Women: Triple Jump: 1. Gayathry Sivakumar (Ker, 12.98m MR. Old: 12.68, Aleena Jose, 2022); 2. R Punitha (TN, 12.39); 3. Sharvari Parulekar (Mah, 12.30). High Jump: 1. Abhinaya Shetty (Kar) & Rubina Yadav (UP) 1.73m; 3. Niranjana Sampath (TN, 1.60). Long Jump: 1. L Sruthilekshmi (Ker, 6.11m); 2. Manisha Merel (Odi, 5.96); 3. R Punitha (TN, 5.85). Pole Vault: 1. G Sindhushree (Kar, 3.50m); 2. Vibha Srinivasa (Kar, 3.20).