Veteran javelin thrower Annu Rani and long jump star Murali Sreeshankar delivered on expectations by securing victories in their respective events at the India Open 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. While the bronze-level meet was conducted smoothly, the overall standard of competition remained moderate.
India Open 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour : In the men’s long jump, Sreeshankar faced stiff competition from 17-year-old rising talent Shahnavaz Khan, the gold medalist at the Uttarakhand National Games in February. Khan took the lead in the fourth round with an impressive 8.04m leap, while Sreeshankar was second at 7.95m. However, the 26-year-old pulled off a sensational 8.13m jump in his final attempt to claim gold, marking his fourth straight title since returning from a long injury break. He is yet to achieve the Tokyo World Championships automatic qualification mark of 8.27m.
Khan, whose previous best was 7.90m, became the newest member of India’s elite 8m long jump club. In the women’s javelin, Asian Games champion Annu Rani claimed the top spot with a 62.01m throw in the fourth round, boosting her chances for the Tokyo World Championships in September. Representing Uttar Pradesh, she followed it up with another strong throw of 61.01m, maintaining her consistent form. Prior to this, Rani was ranked 30th on the “Road to Tokyo” list after a 62.59m throw in Poland on August 6. While 36 athletes will compete in Tokyo, she still needs to breach the 64m automatic qualification mark. Notably, she had ended a year-long wait for a 60m-plus throw earlier this week in Poland.
In the men’s 200m, Odisha’s star sprinter Animesh Kujur overcame a morning injury scare in the 100m heats to clock 20.77 seconds in the final, securing gold ahead of Korea’s Ko Seunghwan (20.95 seconds) and India’s Ragul Kumar (21.17 seconds). Kujur holds the national records in both the 100m (10.18 seconds) and 200m (20.32 seconds).
The men’s javelin final proved underwhelming for the home crowd, as Indian throwers fell short of expectations. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage took gold with an 86.50m throw in his opening attempt, surpassing the 85.50m qualification mark for the World Championships. India’s Shivam Lohakare secured silver with 80.73m, while fellow Sri Lankan Sumedha Ranasinghe won bronze with 80.65m. Rohit Yadav (80.35m) and Sachin Yadav (79.80m) finished fourth and fifth respectively.