Ancy too good for Shaili in long jump at Federation athletics

Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh lowered the National 100m record twice, while Asian Games silver medallist long jumper Ancy Sojan rewrote the meet record on the opening day of the Federation athletics meet at the Birsa Munda Stadium (Morabadi) on Friday.

In the conducive evening session, Gurindervir clocked 10.17 to break Kujur’s National record in the semifinals. Within minutes, displaying healthy rivalry, Kujur dashed to regain his record with a mark of 10.15 and attained the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark.

Animesh Kujur celebrates his new national record in the semifinals of the men’s 100m run in the 29th National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 at Birsa Munda stadium in Ranchi on Friday, 22 May 2026.
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR

Ancy and her close rival Shaili Singh also exhibited another fine episode of rivalry. Responding to Shaili’s first jump of 6.38m, Ancy logged 6.47 before consistently achieving five 6.5m-plus jumps, including her fourth (6.75m) to erase Shaili’s meet record (6.64m) and win the gold with her personal best. However, she fell short of the CWG qualifying mark by nine cm.

Deepak Bhatt of Uttrakhand won the men’s 10000m gold in the 29th National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 at the Birsa Munda stadium in Ranchi on Friday, 22 May 2026.
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR

“My first target was to perform without a jump foul. I aim for the Commonwealth (qualification mark),” said Ancy.

Deepak Bhatt ran a well-planned race, going into the lead in the last 70m, to claim his maiden 10,000m title.

Tejaswin Shankar in action in the men’s long jump decathlon event in the 29th National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 at the Birsa Munda stadium in Ranchi on Friday, 22 May 2026.
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR

Bihar’s Vibhaskar Kumar recorded a stunning 10.36 in the men’s 100m heats and qualified for the Asian under-23 championships.

In the decathlon high jump event, Tejaswin Shankar achieved 2.25m to surpass the CWG mark (2.22m).

The results (finals): Men: 10000m (CWG Q mark 27:39.03): 1. Deepak Bhatt (Utk) 29:42.93, 2. Sailesh Kushwaha (Kar) 29:57.56, 3. Prashant Choudhary (UP) 30:36.97.

Hammer throw (CWG Q mark 73.09m): 1. Ashish Jakhar (SSCB) 68.52m, 2. Damneet Singh (Rel.) 67.62m, 3. Ajay Kumar (Har) 64.93m.

3000m steeplechase (CWG Q mark 8:30.26): 1. Balkishan (Har) 8:56.01, 2. Sharuk Khan (UP) 8:56.63, 3. Sunil Joliya Jinabhai (Guj) 8:58.38.

Women: 10000m (CWG Q mark 31:14.14): 1. Ravina Gayakwad (Mah) 35:40.98, 2. Soniya (Utk) 36:16.22, 3. Aarti Pawara (Mah) 36:24.79.

Long jump (CWG Q mark 6.84m): 1. Ancy Sojan (Navy) 6.75m (MR, Old 6.64, Shaili Singh, 2025), 2. Shaili Singh (Anju Bobby George Academy) 6.58m, 3. Bhavani Yadav (NCOE Bengaluru) 6.39m.

3000m steeplechase (CWG Q mark 9:27.41): 1. Ankita Dhyani (Utk) 9:48.16, 2. Prachi Devkar (IOCL) 10:16.29, 3. Anju (Har) 10:28.23.

Discus (CWG Q mark 56.85m): 1. Seema (JSW) 57.29m, 2. Nidhi Rani (Har) 55.05m, 3. Krishna Jayasankar (Rel.) 55.00m.