Manu dominates Javelin Throw competition improving meet mark three times

Bengaluru: Services’ Manu DP on Tuesday dominated the men’s Javelin Throw final as he improved his meet record thrice, settling for the best throw of 81.23 meters at the 61st AFI National Open Athletics Championships.

Manu’s first throw was 80.32m and he improved it to 80.50m before uncorking a final throw over 81.23m.

With his first throw, the 22-year-old broke the meet record set at 79.04m by Ravinder Singh Khaira in Lucknow in 2016.

He remained the only athlete to breach the 80m mark today, adding the National Open title to the top prize he won in the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai in June this year.

Manu will be pleased that he breached the 80m mark in a final for the fifth time this year, including in the Commonwealth Games where he finished fifth with 82.28.

With a 79.80m throw on his third attempt, Rohit Yadav (Railways) appeared to have warmed up to the idea of posing Manu a challenge, but that was not to be.

Krishan Kumar and KM Chanda also won the half-mile events for men and women respectively to add to their victories in the National Inter-State Championships.

Services’ Krishan Kumar had to strain his every sinew to beat a fast-finishing Abhishek Singh (Madhya Pradesh) in the men’s 800m.

Krishan Kumar seemed set to stay well in front from about 150m through the end, but Abhishek upped the pace as he approached the home straight. The Services runner held on to break the beam by the skin of his teeth.