Pavithra Vengatesh of Tamil Nadu came close to breaking the national record but fell short of the mark as she clinched the gold medal in the women’s pole vault at the third India Open Jumps competition in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Pavithra, however, returned with a personal best effort of 4.15m, falling 7cm short of Roy Meena Paulraj’s national record of 4.21m achieved in 2022 at the National Open athletics championships. Pavithra had crossed the 4.22m thrice, but all of her efforts were red-flagged by the line judge. In a field, where no other athlete managed to cross the four metres mark, the 22-year-old, who won the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships silver in 2023, clinched the yellow metal by bettering her PB of 4.10m by 5cm. Mariya Jaison of Kerala bagged the silver medal with a 3.80m jump, which is much lower than her personal best of 3.90m. Sindhushree G of Karnataka won the bronze medal. This feat is particularly rewarding for Pavithra, who was forced to miss the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships held in Tehran …