Yash Vir Singh outshine Kishore Jena to clinch Indian Open Athletics 2025 meet

Competing at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Yash Vir Singh produced his best effort of 77.49m on his fifth attempt. Kishore Jena's 75.99m throw came on his fourth attempt.

However, both distances breached the Athletics Federation of India's (AFI) entry standard of 75.36m in the men's javelin throw for the Asian Championships 2025. Braveman Heart, who finished third with a distance of 72.36m, missed out.

This year's Asian Championships will be held in Gumi, the Republic of Korea, in May. The final selection for the meet, however, is at the AFI's discretion.

The Chennai event marked Kishore Kumar Jena's first competition since the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he finished 18th with an 80.73m effort. His best of 87.54m came at the Asian Games 2023, where he claimed the silver medal behind national record holder Neeraj Chopra.

The Chennai meet featured some of the top Indian athletes.

Among other standout performers, Asian Championships silver medallist Shaili Singh won the women's long jump event with a distance of 6.45m, breaching the Asian Athletics Championships qualification mark of 6.41m.

Vithya Ramraj, the Asian Games 2023 bronze medallist in the women's 400m hurdles, won her event with a time of 56.90.

India's 110m hurdles national record holder Tejas Shirse, competing with a strapping on his leg, came second in his pet event with a timing of 13.96s - 0.02s behind. Manav R. Muhammed Lazan was third with a time of 14.37s.

Paris 2024 Olympian Jeswin Aldrin, who holds India's national record of 8.42m in the men's long jump, logged 7.36m for seventh place. Aditya Kumar Singh won the men's long jump on Tuesday with a 7.74m effort.

The Indian Open Athletics competition features a series of meets that will be held across the country. The next one will also be held in Chennai on April 21.