Dileep shatters national decathlon record with record total

Dileep Kumar became the first Indian junior to total 7000 points in decathlon as he finished the 10-event competition with 7020 points at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College grounds here.

The decathlete, who trains at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, bettered the old mark of 6866 points held by Brameshwar Nath of Bihar for the last 12 years.

Uttar Pradesh girl Nisha Yadav also set a national record in youth girls' hammer throw event with an effort of 54.39m. The previous record-holder, Bhawana from Haryana, finished third today while Himachal Pradesh's Deepa Kumari claimed the silver.

The 2000m steeplechase for girls was introduced very recently and Kerala girl C L Aswathi won the junior women's event in 7:33.87 while local girl Parul Chaudhary showed her experience to win the event in youth division in a much improved 7:06.49.

Tamil Nadu sprinter M S Arun took the 200m race for boys under-16 grade in a noteworthy 22.30 secs while Dutee Chand claimed the top honours in youth girls with a time of 24.31 secs.

Tamil Nadu boys team took the 1000m sprint relay in u-16 division with a new national mark of 1:58.99.

Kerala had a profitable day today with their athletes securing six gold as they regain the lead in the championship race with 409 points against arch rivals Haryana (345 points).