National U20 Athletics: Murad and Anushka win gold

Prayagraj: Gujarat’s Murad Sirman broke the meet record while winning the gold in the men’s 400m hurdles on the final day of the 23rd National Junior (U20) Federation Athletics Championships here on Tuesday.

Sirman clocked 50.75 seconds to better the earlier meet record of 51.26 seconds set by Durgesh Kumar Pal in 2012. The three-day competition concluded Tuesday at the Madan Mohan Malaviya Sports Complex.

Uttar Pradesh’s promising hammer thrower Anushka Yadav also improved the meet record of 57.09m set by Tanya Chaudhary in 2022. Anushka’s gold winning throw was 60.46m.

She also holds the junior national record of 62.89m set in February at the Uttarakhand National Games.

Meanwhile, Karnataka swimmer Rujula S bettered the ‘Best Indian Performance’ in the women’s 50m freestyle event to win gold on the third day of the Senior National Aquatic Championship, here on Tuesday. Rujula clocked 26.36 seconds to also improve the meet record. Aryan Nehra won gold in the men’s 400m freestyle, while Kushagra Rawat and Aneesh Gowda won silver and bronze, respectively.