Triumphs and Records: Highlights from National Open Championships

Ancy Sojan captured gold with a personal best of 6.71m at the National Open Championships, narrowly missing the meet record. Nithin set a new 200m record, while Vithya Ramraj broke the women’s 400m hurdles meet record. Services and Railways stood out in the team competitions, with Railways also declared overall champions.

Ancy Sojan, the experienced long jumper from Services, clinched gold with a remarkable personal best effort of 6.71m, earning her the best female athlete award on the final day of the National Open Championships on Monday.

The 23-year-old Sojan came close to breaking the meet record of 6.74m set by the legendary Anju Bobby George in 2002. 'The gold-winning performance of 6.71m will serve as a benchmark to prepare for the 2025 season,' stated Sojan.

Tamil Nadu's Nithin made headlines by securing the 200m gold with a meet record time of 20.66 seconds, earning him the title of best male athlete. Meanwhile, Asian Games medallist Vithya Ramraj broke the longstanding women's 400m hurdles record, finishing in 56.23 seconds, surpassing PT Usha's 1985 record of 56.80 seconds.

(With inputs from agencies.)