BENGALURU: Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel battled for the gold medal in the men’s triple jump event on the opening day of the Fifth Indian Open Jumps Competition held at Anju Bobby George Foundation Campus here in Bengaluru on Saturday.
But Aboobacker had the upper hand in an exciting contest. The international jumper representing the Air Force got his rhythm right in his third attempt to take home the gold medal with a distance of 16.83m. His opening jump was 16.05m, and he recorded a jump of 16.57m in his second attempt. However, he didn’t attempt the last three jumps.
Praveen Chithravel settled for silver with a jump of 16.78m in the season-opening competition.
Away from the triple jump arena, the army’s international jumper, Sarvesh Anil Kushare, was the clear winner in the men’s high jump. He cleared 2.16m on his third attempt to win gold. However, he failed to clear 2.19m.
It was a nail-biting contest in the men’s pole vault. Training partners Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar aimed to raise the bar and improve the national record of 5.40m, which was set last year by Dev Meena. Both fell short of the national record, clearing 5.25m. Dev Meena was the first to clear the bar at 5.25m and walked away with the day's honour.