Having consistently thrown over 20 metres that season, he surpassed Shakti Singh's decade-old Indian record of 20.42 m by some distance with a put of 20.65 m to win at the Delhi State Annual Athletics Championships.
[3] The following week he competed at the Asian All-Star Meet – a test event for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games athletics competition.
[4] At the Indian Inter-State Championships in August he was again runner-up to Singh, but threw a more-impressive 19.91 m – eight centimetres off the winning mark.
[5] His plans to represent his nation at the Commonwealth Games in his hometown finished abruptly as his doping test at the championships came back positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine (a stimulant).
[6] The failed test was one of seven positive results for the drug, coming at the same time as those for discus thrower Akash Antil and six wrestlers, including Rajiv Tomar.