Neil Samraj R, Abinaya Rajarajan rewrite national 100m records

Abinaya Rajarajan and Neil Samraj R set national 100m records on the opening day of the National Junior Athletics Championships in Chennai. Abinaya clocked 11.49 seconds in the Under-20 category, while Neil recorded 10.45 seconds in Under-18

Hyderabad: Tamil Nadu’s promising sprinter Abinaya Rajarajan rocketed off the blocks to set a national record in the Under-20 women’s 100m on the opening day of the 41st National Junior Athletics Championships 2026, which got underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

It was double delight for Tamil Nadu as Neil Samraj R also improved his own national 100m record in the Under-18 men’s category.

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Abinaya stamped her authority in the 100m dash, clocking 11.49 seconds to win gold and better her own national record of 11.54 seconds, set last year in Kochi.

Neil’s gold-winning time was 10.45 seconds, bettering his own national Under-18 100m record of 10.46 seconds, set earlier this year in Ludhiana. Neil also improved the meet record of 10.63 seconds set by Anshu Rajak.

Punjab’s international thrower Amanat Kamboj dominated the women’s Under-20 discus throw. On her way to gold, she recorded a throw of 51.44m. The previous record of 49.85m was set by Kamalpreet Kaur.

Supriya Attri of Uttar Pradesh finished a close second with a throw of 51.40m.

Results:

Men — Under-20, 5,000m: Abhinandan Suryavan (Maharashtra) 14:32.08, Aakash (Uttar Pradesh) 14:32.14, Rohit Choudhary (Rajasthan) 14:32.35.

Men — Under-20, pole vault: Arya Dev (Uttar Pradesh) 4.60m, Ajeet Kumar (Rajasthan) 4.60m, RR Vishal (Tamil Nadu) 4.40m.

Men — Under-18, 100m: Neil Samraj R (Tamil Nadu) 10.45 seconds (national record), J Nived Krishna (Kerala) 10.67 seconds, Abhishek Naruka (Rajasthan) 10.78 seconds.

Women — Under-20, 100m: Abinaya Rajarajan (Tamil Nadu) 11.49 seconds (national record), Kajal Vaja (Gujarat) 11.61 seconds, Nancy (Haryana) 11.83 seconds.

Women — Under-20, 5,000m: Tamanna (Karnataka) 17:27.85, Roshini Kalura (Uttarakhand) 17:35.71, Archita Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) 17:36.25.

Women — Under-20, discus throw: Amanat Kamboj (Punjab) 51.44m (meet record), Supriya Attri (Uttar Pradesh) 51.40m, Anushree KS (Tamil Nadu) 46.82m.

Women — Under-18, 100m: T Mrithika (Tamil Nadu) 11.71 seconds, Suchithra S (Karnataka) 11.98 seconds, Saawari Kulkarni (Maharashtra) 12.09 seconds.

Girls — Under-14, Triathlon B: Pinki Pal (West Bengal) 2,894 points, Devanshi Amit Kale (Maharashtra) 2,837 points, Himadari Bhardwaj (Uttar Pradesh) 2,824 points.

Boys — Under-14, Triathlon B: Sumit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 3,256 points, Sadhon Ghosh (West Bengal) 3,192 points, Pradeeh Varsa (Telangana) 2,784 points.

Women — Under-18, javelin throw: Misti Karmakar (West Bengal) 51.41m, Apiksha Kumari (Gujarat) 49.22m, Shivani Patel (Madhya Pradesh) 47.55m.