‘2.35m will also fall’: Sarvesh Kushare sets new target after breaking national record in high jump

National record holder Sarvesh Kushare has already cleared the 2.30m mark, but the high jumper says his next goal is even higher. After becoming the first Indian to clear 2.30m, Kushare has now set his sights on winning gold at the Asian Games and breaking the 2.35m mark.Kushare created history by clearing 2.31m at the National Inter-State Athletics Championship on Saturday, bettering the previous national record of 2.29m set by Tejaswin Shankar.The 31-year-old from Maharashtra became the first Indian high jumper to clear 2.30m. His jump is also the third best performance in the world this season and the best among Asian athletes. He also broke the Indian Athletics Federation Asian Games qualifying mark of 2.19m.After setting the national record, Kushare attempted 2.35m but failed to clear the height in two attempts.“I will go for gold in the Asian Games and I am sure of it. The 2.35m mark will also fall, it may be during the Commonwealth or the Asian Games,” Kushare was quoted as saying by a news agency after his performance.This will be Kushar’s second Asian Games. He finished fourth at the 2022 Asian Games in China with a jump of 2.26m. He was also named in India’s 32-member athletics squad for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 2.Soon after Kushare broke the national record, Tejaswin Shankar posted on social media, “Another mental barrier broken! 2.30+ probably the last of the sticky records. 2.34-35 is just a matter of time.”Asked if clearing 2.30m was a mental barrier, Kushare said: “The height is not easy. But if we prepare accordingly, anything is possible.“Going above 2.30m is very difficult. If we talk about 2017-18, if Tejaswin hadn’t done 2.26m, we wouldn’t have made it. He did 2.27m and then 2.29m, we were also slowly falling behind. By God’s grace, everything was good and I did it.”Kushare is currently training at the Anju Bobby George Foundation Academy in Bengaluru after previously training at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.Asked if he cleared 2.30m during training, he said: “There were attempts in practice, but not as many good attempts as I have here. Everything here was new and good for me. It was fun to race and break the national record.”“But I haven’t tried 2.35 m in practice either.”