Sahana Kumari betters her National meet record

CHENNAI: Sahana Kumari of Railways, who was the last Indian to qualify for the London Olympics, provided the sheen on the second day of the 52nd National Open Athletics Championships here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
She broke the existing meet record of 1.83m in the women's high jump, a mark she had set last year in Kolkata. With a jump of 1.84m she provided the star turn that the competition was crying out for.It was the first meet mark being bettered at this edition but Sahana, who holds the national record with 1.92m, failed in all her three attempts in the next height of 1.88m.
"I was down with fever after returning from London. It was my duty to win the event here for my department, which I did," she said.
It was a clean sweep by Railways whose Siji NK and Mallikamandal took the silver and bronze behind Sahana respectively.
Local hero Renjith Maheswary, who had a point to prove after his London debacle, outclassed the competition in the men's triple jump to take home the gold. Renjith, also representing Railways, improved his performance as the day progressed, starting out with a tame 15.93m.
There was great excitement during his fourth attempt when it looked as if he had broken the meet record of 16.97m. But the official's red card poured cold water on his hopes. The closest he came to the record was in his last attempt when he jumped 16.72m for gold. His Railways' teammate Amarjeet Singh took home the silver with a best of 16.03m and ONGC's Arpinder Singh won the bronze with a jump of 15.92m.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu had a memorable day in the men's and women's 100m final. Manikandan, representing Railways, won the men's gold in 10.60 seconds.
It was the 24-year-old's first senior national medal and that too on home turf. He got married two months back and was in a bit of dilemma whether to dedicate the win to his wife or his coach.