BHUBANESWAR: Rajasthan's 18-year-old high jumper Basant was among a few athletes who narrowly missed the qualification mark for the World U20 Athletics Championships on the third day of the National Junior Championships at the Kalinga Stadium on Sunday. Competing in the men's U20 category, Basant clinched gold with a best clearance of 2.11m, falling agonisingly short of the 2.12m qualifying mark for the World U20 Championships to be held in Oregon, USA, in 2026. His teammate Narpat Singh also endured a similar fate in the hammer throw, missing the qualifying mark by a slender margin. Singh won gold in the men's U20 event with a throw of 67.45m, just shy of the required 68m.
Results: Men U20: High jump: Basant (Rajasthan) 2.11m, Sagar Roy (West Bengal) 2.09m, Afroz Ahmad (Jharkhand) 2.03m. Hammer throw: Narpat Singh (Rajasthan) 67.45m, Kartik (Uttar Pradesh) 66.40m, Aakash (Rajasthan) 65.60m. 5,000m race walk: Amit Kumar (Chhattisgarh) 19:47.76s, Ashish Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 19:49.99s, Sachin (Haryana) 19:59.48s.
Women U20: 3000m: Sonam Parmar (Madhya Pradesh) 10:01.46s, Tanisha (Haryana) 10:06.85s, Soniya Upadhyay (Uttar Pradesh) 10:12.21s. Triple jump: Paveena Rajesh (Tamil Nadu) 12.42m, Tamanna (Haryana) 12.34m, Janice Tressa R (Kerala) 12.29m. Hammer throw (4kg): Gunjan Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 47.78m, Ramisha Makvana (Gujarat) 46.98m, Ridhima (Rajasthan) 45.86m. 5,000m race walk: Manisha (Rajasthan) 23:43.58s, Tanya (Delhi) 23:43.91s, Savitaben Chauhan (Gujarat) 23:57.90s.