Annu Rani betters javelin national record with 63.24m throw at Fed Cup

Annu Rani is still painfully short of the qualification mark for the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo - 64m.

Annu Rani needs to breach the 64m mark to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics later this year. (file photo)

Federation Cups, national records and Annu Rani are a tried and tested winning combo. In 2019, Annu recorded a throw of 62.34m, bettering her own national record of 61.86m that she had set in 2017. This helped her qualify for the World Championships to be held in Doha later that year - the event's qualification mark - 61.50m.

Two years later, at the same venue, another big world stage beckons - the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Annu is back to what she does best - improving her national record, incidentally set at the World Championship - enroute to a gold medal in the discipline at the 24th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships 2021 on Monday.

 

Annu bettered her own mark, a 62.43m throw she registered at the Doha World Championship with a 63.24m distance in Patiala. She is still painfully short of the 64m qualification mark for Tokyo.

The 28-year-old has become the first female Indian athlete to breach the 63m mark in her pursuit of making the cut for the Olympics. Her efforts in the Fed Cup come after a best throws of 61.22m at the Indian Grand Prix 1 in February and a 61.98m throw at the Indian GP 2 earlier this month - both gold medal-winning efforts.

The 63.24m throw on Monday was her third in six permitted attempts, the others measuring 61.45m, 61.03m, 59.67m, NM and 59.46m.

(More details awaited)