Indian Open U23 Athletics Competition: Four meet records fall in Jaipur

Nirbhay Choudhary and Haqikat Grewal broke hammer throw meet records on the final day of the Indian Open U23 Athletics Competition 2026 in Jaipur. Records also fell in the men's 400m hurdles and 10,000m races, with athletes delivering standout performances

Hyderabad: The spotlight was on hammer throwers Nirbhay Choudhary of Delhi and Haqikat Grewal of Punjab as they broke meet records on the concluding day of the Sixth Indian Open U23 Athletics Competition 2026 in Jaipur.

The three-day competition, organised at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, also witnessed meet records being broken in the men’s 400m hurdles and 10,000m races on Sunday.

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Choudhary’s best throw of 66.32m on Sunday bettered the previous meet record of 64.75m, set by Nitesh Poonia of Rajasthan in 2022. Mohammad Shahban of Uttar Pradesh, who won silver with a throw of 65.27m, also surpassed the previous meet record.

The competition was closely contested in the women’s hammer throw. Haqikat surged ahead of her rivals with her second attempt, but it was her final throw of 55.46m that set a new meet record. The previous record of 54.42m was held by Tanya Chaudhary.

Rajasthan’s Soniya, who won silver, tried to close the gap, but her best throw on Sunday measured 52.16m.

The top three finishers in the men’s 10,000m bettered the meet record of 29:44.64, set by Puneet Yadav in 2022. Maharashtra’s Gaurav Bhaskar won gold with a time of 29:34.52.

Karna Bag of West Bengal won gold in the men’s 400m hurdles with a time of 50.27 seconds, improving on the meet record of 50.29 seconds set by Arjun Pradeep of Kerala in 2025.

Results (Day 3):

Men

• 200m: Yuvraj E (Tamil Nadu), 21.01 seconds; Dondapati M (Odisha), 21.04 seconds; Nayan Shah (Maharashtra), 21.11 seconds.
• 800m: Akashdeep Singh (Punjab), 1:50.10; Shyam Milan Bind (Uttar Pradesh), 1:50.62; Naresh Gurjar (Air Force), 1:51.10.
• 10,000m: Gaurav Bhaskar (Maharashtra), 29:34.52 (meet record); Satyam (Uttar Pradesh), 29:36.45; Mohit Choudhary (ONGC), 29:37.19.
• 400m hurdles: Karna Bag (West Bengal), 50.27 seconds (meet record); Aryan Prajwal (JSW), 50.28 seconds; Vignesh B (Navy), 51.33 seconds.
• 3000m steeplechase: Ranvir Kumar (Gujarat), 8:59.46; Ritesh Kumar (Haryana), 9:00.34; MD Nooruddin (Delhi), 9:00.42.
• Triple jump: Yuvraj K (Tamil Nadu), 15.64m; Pradeep Kumar (NCOE Bengaluru), 15.51m; Dablu Roy (BSF), 15.49m.
• Hammer throw: Nirbhay Choudhary (Delhi), 66.32m (meet record); Mohammad Shahban (Uttar Pradesh), 65.27m; Prateek (Haryana), 59.20m.
• Javelin throw: Shashank Patil (Karnataka), 76.16m; Aditya (Haryana), 75.48m; Manish (Haryana), 74.50m.
• High jump: Aaditya Raguvanshi (Madhya Pradesh), 2.10m; Jomon Joy (Kerala), 2.10m; Shyam Sunder (Air Force), 2.10m.
• 21km half-marathon race walk: Nitin Gupta (Uttar Pradesh), 1:29:51.00; Sachin Garhwal (Rajasthan), 1:30:04.00; Tushar Panwar (Uttarakhand), 1:30:19.00.

Women

• 200m: Sonika (Haryana), 23.97 seconds; Samriti Jamwal (Himachal Pradesh), 23.98 seconds; Sakshi Champalal (Gujarat), 24.11 seconds.
• 800m: Prateeksha Yadav (IOCL), 2:06.92; Laxmipriya Kisan (Odisha), 2:08.34; Harshika (Delhi), 2:08.59.
• 400m hurdles: Priyanka M (Karnataka), 1:00.25; Ashwini R (Tamil Nadu), 1:00.59; Apurva Anand Naik (Karnataka), 1:00.92.
• 3000m steeplechase: Prachi Devkar (IOCL), 10:26.21; Susmita Tigga (Odisha), 10:36.08; Nikita (IOCL), 10:45.10.
• Triple jump: Marymukta Soreng (Odisha), 12.57m; Varshitha C (Karnataka), 12.50m; Monika (Haryana), 12.36m.
• Hammer throw: Haqikat Grewal (Punjab), 55.46m (meet record); Soniya (Rajasthan), 52.16m; Shivani Sharma (Haryana), 49.68m.
• Javelin throw: Deepika (JSW), 51.43m; Poonam (JSW), 50.45m; Jyoti (Haryana), 49.50m.
• Heptathlon: Bidisha Kundu (West Bengal), 5,260 points; Tanishka Sharma (Delhi), 4,800 points; Magudeeshwari S (Tamil Nadu), 4,720 points.