Bhubaneswar, Madhya Pradesh pole vaulter Kuldeep Kumar stunned his rivals by clearing 5.41m to smash the national record on the opening day of the Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition.
The 21-year-old Kumar, competing in his first indoor event, achieved the winning jump in his first attempt, surpassing the previous national record of 5.40m set by Dev Kumar Meena of Madhya Pradesh.
Kumar also broke the national indoor record of 5.30m set by Reegan G of Tamil Nadu in March.
Meena, who was the pre-event favourite, settled for the bronze medal, while Reegan took silver with a jump of 5.25m.
The competition also saw an exciting contest in the heptathlon, with N Thowfeeq of NCOE Trivandrum leading the pack with 2943 points, followed closely by Odisha's Jashbir Nayak with 2927 points.
