Date:01/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/01/stories/2008090154712000.htm

Sport - Athletics

Ankit sets new mark

JAMSHEDPUR: Sixteen-year-old Ankit Sharma was the toast of the opening day of the three-day 20th National inter-zonal junior athletic meet at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here on Sunday.

He won the gold in the boys’ under-18 long jump with a leap of 7.35m, which surpassed the previous National mark set by Sudhir Kumar of Haryana at the Junior National in Vijayawada last year.

Games record stands at 7.60 set by Bernard Yeboah of England in 2004 and Chris Noffke of Australia has a wind-aided 7.64s in the same year.

Ankit’s immediate aim is to excel at the Pune Games. He has a better performance than this at 7.36m achieved at the Junior Federation Cup in Pune this May but for strange reasons this has not been considered as the National record by the AFI.

In his age group, only Stefan Brits of South Africa has a jump of 7.74m.

The day’s second record was set in the boys’ under-20 quarter mile. Parveen Singh Sarhoar timed 47.74s to break P.I. Sebestian’s record of South Zone (48.0s) set at New Delhi in 1992.

At the end of the first day, Tamil Nadu led the medal’s tally with six gold, five silver and two bronze medals. — Special Correspondent