Coimbatore: Asian junior champion Ashish Jakhar (17) set out the 5 kg ball and chain to a new distance of 75.45m in U18 boys Hammer Throw on the second day of 32nd National Junior Athletics Championship here. Today’s performance improved his previous record of 72.04m set in last year’s youth nationals at Goa.  Asish, the second year B.PEd student in Rohtak, Haryana, revealed his intention of touching 80 metres in the next season.

Even the second placed Vikranta from Uttar Pradesh also bettered the previous record with a throw of 73.34m. Punjab boy Damneet Singh landed with bronze in 70.56m.

In the same youth category Rajasthan girl Kachnar Chaudhary erased Meghana Devanga’s three year old national record in shot put by heaving the 3 kg iron ball to 15.99m.  Commonwealth Youth Games bronze medalist Anamika Das, who six weeks ago registered 13.72m with a standard 4 kg shot in SAF junior trials at Patiala, could manage only 15.11m this evening for the second place.

Athletes from hosts Tamil Nadu won two gold medals today through U20 pole vaulter A Nisha Banu (3.30m) and U18 javelin thrower N Hemamalini (45.26m).  Earlier they won a gold through U14 triathlete J Coleshiya (1,577 pts) yesterday.  For Hemamalini it is a continuous winning streak as she won the javelin throw in U16 age-group last year.