NEW DELHI: Pooja Singh of India broke the national U20 women's high jump record to earn a spot in the final at the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima. Singh finished ninth in the qualification round.
The 17-year-old, who is from the Fatehbad area of Haryana, cleared a height of 1.83 meters late on Thursday night to place second in group B of the qualification round and ninth overall, securing a spot in the August 31 final, as per PTI.
Pooja, a mason's daughter, won a silver medal at the Asian U20 Championships, shattering her own national U20 record of 1.82 meters, which she had established in Korea the previous year.
Three competitors from group B and nine athletes from group A qualified for the final.
With a leap of 1.41 meters, Pooja won gold in the U-14 girls' division at the Parta Sports Academy under coach Balwan Singh. However, she suffered a quadricep injury that sidelined her for fifteen months.
After returning, Pooja set a new national record in the U-16 girls' category and won a gold medal in the 2022 junior nationals. She then won another gold in the U-18 category at the 2022 youth national championships.
