Ranchi: Hammer thrower Nitesh Poonia created a national record on the third day of the 34th Junior National Athletics Championships in Ranchi on Sunday. Poonia flung the hammer to a distance of 81.47m, going past the previous mark of 75.45m held by Ashish Jhakar by over six meters.
Poonia’s effort was the world’s fourth best throw recorded by a U-18 men’s athlete this year. The 18-year-old from Rajasthan’s dominance was such that he beat second-placed Updesh Singh by nearly 15 meters. The silver medal winner could only fling the hammer to a distance of 66.93m.
Bronze meanwhile went to Rajasthan’s Praveen Kumar who recorded a throw of 65.06m. To put Poonia’s throw in perspective, the men’s U-20 hammer throw was won by Uttar Pradesh’s Vikranta who threw the hammer 69.46m.
Silver and bronze went to Badal of Rajasthan and Ajay Kumar of Haryana who threw the ball and chain 66.02m and 63.38m respectively.