U-20 Athletics : Pooja breaks U-20 record in high jump

Lima (Peru), August 30

Pooja Singh rewrote the national U-20 women’s national record in high jump to qualify for the final with a ninth-place finish in the qualification round at the ongoing World Athletics U-20 Championships.

The 17-year-old, who hails from Fatehbad district of Haryana, cleared a height of 1.83m to finish second in qualification round group B and ninth overall late Thursday night and qualify for the final to be held on August 31.

Daughter of a mason, Pooja broke her own national U-20 record of 1.82m set last year in Korea while winning a silver medal at the Asian U-20 Championships. Nine athletes in group A and three in group B made the cut for the final.

Pooja had won gold in the U-14 girls’ category with a jump of 1.41m but picked up a quadricep injury which kept her out for 15 months.