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In a major development from the track, India's gold medalist in men's 800m in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games announced retirement after finishing sixth in the final at the 25th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship at the Calicut University Stadium on Tuesday. On the penultimate day, which saw Manjit Singh bid adieu to track, Kripal Singh from Punjab in men's discus throw and Chanda of New Delhi in women's 800m event emerged victorious on Tuesday.

Manjit Singh, who has registered his name in the history books for his sensational win in the Jakarta race by pipping his compatriot, the national champion and record holder Jinson Johnson for the gold medal, received lot of praise from other competitors after announcing retirement.

However, Manjit cited injury reasons for hanging up his boots as he said, "I can't take this anymore. I have to take the call as my body can no longer withstand the strain of the competitions due to injuries." He also cleared that he has not decided on a huff, and its a well-thought decision.

However, in the men's discus throw, defending champion Kripal Singh who hails from Taran Sahib and is widely popular for training without any help and assistance of any personnel, the coach made a huge statement in his fourth attempt, which measured 61.83m. He set a new record and erased the old record of 59.55m set by Anil Kumar in Lucknow in the 2000 edition. The defending champion, whose personal best was 59.76m, achieved the Asian Games entry standard of 59.50m with his efforts.

He said, "I am glad to achieve the Asian Games entry standard, but I was hoping to make the entry standard of 62.61m for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games." He also informed that during the training sessions, he used to throw 64.00m.