WUG2025: Dev Kumar Meena raises Pole Vault mark for third time in six months

Dev Kumar Meena’s National Record in Men’s Pole Vault in the FISU World University Games 2025 athletics competition in Bochum, Germany, combined with the qualification of Praveen Chithravel for the men’s Triple Jump final and Ankita Dhyani for the women’s 3000m Steeplechase final to infuse hope that the track and field squad would medal soon.

With Sahil Silwal unable to break 75m and finishing a disappointing eighth in the men’s Javelin Throw final and with badminton player Devika Sihag bowing out of the women’s singles quarterfinals and the women’s doubles round of eight with Aditi Bhatt, no medals came India’s way on Friday after the Compound Archery team claimed a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. 

India finished the day in the 25th spot with a total of five medals, including one gold, one silver and three bronze. The team will be hoping that the archers will add to more medals and that the track and field team will contribute to India’s medal haul even ahead of the 20km Race Walk events on Sunday. 

Dev Kumar Meena, the 20-year-from Madhya Pradesh listed a student of Guru Nanak Dev University, warmed Indian hearts by clearing 5.40m for the first time in a competition. With qualification not assured at 5.25m, he did well to soar over the bar placed at 5.40m on his second attempt. 

It is the third time in six months that he has rewritten the National mark. Having claimed it from S Siva by clearing 5.32m in the National Games in Dehradun on February 10, he raised it to 5.35m at the AFI Federation Cup in Kochi on April 22. On Friday, he had to find the rhythm and the movement to jump despite the bar being raised by 15cm from the earlier height.

Ankita Dhyani won her 3000m Steeplechase Round 1 heat comfortably, but she will be aware that Ireland’s Ava O’Connor was the fastest of the 16 qualifiers in winning the second heat. She will also be aware that the final will be a different ball game since the competitors in the first round heats were only focused on finishing in the top 8 of their heat.

Praveen Chithravel, who hopped, stepped and jumped over 16.25m in his only try in the Triple Jump qualification, was eventually ranked fourth among the 12 qualifiers for the final. The silver medal Asian Championships (16.90m) will combine with at least two competitions this season when he has crossed the 17m mark to give him confidence going into Saturday’s final.

The results (Indians only) 

Athletics

Men

800m Round 1: 27. Rijoy Jayasankar 1:51.73; 38. Anu Kumar 1:56.33.
Pole Vault Qualification: 6. Dev Kumar Meena 5.40 (New National Record. Old: 5.35, Dev Kumar Meena, Kochi, 2025); 29. Reegan Ganesan 4.85.
Triple Jump Qualification: 4. Praveen Chithravel 16.25m; MM Mohammed Muhassin No Mark.
Javelin Throw Final: 8. Sahil Silwal 73.76m.
Decathlon (after five events): 12. Thowfeeq Noushad 3669 points (100m: 11.10; LJ: 6.84; SP: 9.97; HJ: 1.88; 400m: 49.29); 13. Jashbir Nayak 3635 (11.30; 6.71; 12.49; 1.88; 51.16).

Women

1500m Round 1: 13. KM Chanda 4:20.84; 28. Kajal Ranganath Kanawade 4:50.06.
100m Hurdles Semifinals: 18. Moumita Mondal 13.42.
3000m Steeplechase Round 1 : 2. Ankita Dhyani 9:54.79; 21. Manju Yadav 11:24.71.
High Jump Qualification: 20. Pallavi Patil 1.71m; Pooja Did Not Start.
Javelin Throw Qualification: 9. Karishma Sudarshan Sanil 53.12m; 21. Sakshi Sharma 39.84.

Badminton

Women’s Singles quarterfinals: Devika Sihag lost to Ling Ching Wong (Malaysia) 15-17, 11-15.

Women’s Doubles Quarterfinals: Aditi Bhatt and Devika Sihag lost to Liu Jia Yue and Tang Rui Zhi (China) 11-15, 15-17.

Basketball

Women’s 15-16 placing: India 65 (Akshaya Philip 21, Priyanka Bahal 19, Riya Pramod Kunghadkar 12) lost to Argentina 81 (Dagmar Hentschel 26, Lucia Becerra 22). Quarters: 21-22, 11-26, 6-16, 27-17.

Beach Volleyball

Men’s 17-20 Placing match: India (Chetan Raju Balbudhe and Abithan Senthilkumar) lost to Chile (Martin Iglesias and Ignacio Javier Negrete Silva) 11-21, 15-21.

Women’s Placing 21-24 match: India (Lakshmanan Kanimozhi and Ravi Gowshika) lost to Azerbaijan (Fidan Ahmadkhanova and Sabina Alizada) 21-19, 11-21, 11-21;  17-24 match: India lost to Spain (Marta Acuna and Sofia Carulla) 13-21, 9-21.

Judo

Men

90kg class First round: Sheetal Singh Ningthoujam lost to Nace Pecknik (Slovenia) by Ippon (1:25)
100kg First round: Harsh Sharma lost to Alexandru Calin Sibisan (Romania) by Ippon (2:28).
+100kg First round:  Yash Ganghas lost to Dai You-Min (Chinese Taipei) by Ippon (3:03).

Women

78kg First round: Ishroop Narang lost to Vicky Carine J Verscharere (Belgium) by Ippon (3:38).
+78kg: Pre-quarterfinals: Muskan Rathi lost to Jia Chuni (China) by Ippon (1:50); First round: Muskan Rathi beat Gizem Coskum (Turkiye) by Waza-ari (4:00).

Rowing

Men’s Single Sculls Heat: 28. Pratik Gupta 8:03.29.Men’s Double Sculls Heat: 23. India (Harvinder Singh Cheema and Bhupinder Singh) 7:20.70.
Men’s Pair Heat:  18. India (Ankit and Vishal) 7:11.68.
Men’s Four Heat: 13. India (Prayas, Mohit Kumar, Raghav Saran, Arvinder Singh Mann) 7:04.22.
Men’s Eight: 7. India 6:38.86.

Women’s Single Sculls Heat: 25. Dhanshree Bhaskar Sangale 9:31.23.
Women’s Four Heat: 12. India (Jashanpreet Kaur, Arunprit Kaur, Pooja, Avinash Kaur) 7:49.62.
Mixed Quadruple Sculls Heat: 11. India (Rohit Bedwal, Pavitra, Rushikesh Rajendra Shelke, Diksha) 6:52.78.