Bhubaneswar, May 3 -- Bhubaneswar Indoor Stadium has proved a happy hunting ground for Tamil Nadu's pole vaulter Baranica Elangovan. Within a span of nearly five weeks, the 29-year-old improved the national record twice. On both occasions, the venue was Bhubaneswar's Indoor Stadium.

On Sunday, Baranica Elangovan cleared 4.23m, to better her own national record of 4.22m set at the inaugural edition of the National Indoor Athletics Championships held in the last week of March in Bhubaneswar. She cleared 4.23m on her third attempt. "It was another good day for me," says Baranica of setting a new benchmark in women's pole vault.

Baranica has shifted from Tamil Nadu to Odisha and practices at Bhubaneswar.

In the men's heptathlon, Thowfeeq N...