Pooja Singh’s Record-Breaking Leap: Teen High Jumper Clears 1.93m, Takes Asian U20 Gold

Anirudh Jain - Kolkata Bureau May 30, 2026 1,250 Views

Indian teenager Pooja Singh has ripped up the record books with a 1.93 metre high jump that broke a 14 year old national mark and won her Asian U20 gold in Hong Kong. The 19 year old sailed past the previous Indian record of 1.92 metres, held by Sahana Kumari, and also crossed the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard in the same jump. For a discipline that usually moves in millimetres, this was a statement in bold.

Her performance at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships did more than just fetch a medal. It reset the ceiling for Indian women’s high jump and announced Pooja as a serious contender on the senior stage much sooner than expected. The fact that Sahana Kumari herself was present at the meet as part of the Indian coaching staff only sharpened the sense of baton passing in real time.

A Night When Everything Clicked

Competing at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground, Pooja worked her way through the earlier heights with visible confidence, clearing 1.91 metres to all but lock in a podium. The real drama came when the bar moved to 1.93 metres, beyond both her own previous best of 1.90 metres and the long standing national record. She cleared it, cleanly, to claim gold, a new Indian senior record and a performance that also bettered the previous Asian U20 meet mark set by Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil. It was the kind of jump where form, timing and nerve finally lined up on the same take off.

What This Means For Indian Athletics

For India, Pooja’s leap is significant on several fronts. It brings the women’s high jump record into a zone that starts to look competitive at Commonwealth level and, with further improvement, potentially at Asian Games finals. It also underlines the value of sustained age group investment and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, under which she trains. With a national record, an Asian U20 title and a Commonwealth qualifying mark in her pocket before her twenties are over, Pooja Singh has moved from promising name to genuine long term prospect almost overnight.