National decathlon record holder Jora Singh is working on improving his technique in events he lags in to muster at least 7,600 points, which should be enough to fetch him a medal at the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Jora said the best mark set in decathlon among Commonwealth athletes is around 8,000 while the next best is 7,700. If he can muster 7,600, the bronze medal could be his for the taking.
"With some improvement, I can reach 7,600, which can be good enough for a bronze at the Commonwealth Games," he said after the 25-members team for the mega event, starting in Melbourne on March 15, was announced.
"Watching the tricolour would also make me perform better."
Jora said he lost vital points in two events at the Federation Cup otherwise his tally could have been higher.
"I lost 40 points in discus throw and another 50 in the 110m hurdles."
However, he said he is working with his coach, Sanjay Garynak, on ways to improve and remove faults in his technique.
The Haryana athlete also went a bit slow in the last event -- the 1,500m -- as he had won the event already.
"I was feeling some cramps so I did not exert myself too much as my nearest challenger P J Vinod had fallen behind.
"I usually do the 1,500m in 4:30 [4 minutes, 30 second] but took 4:39 as I did not want to take a chance," Jora said.
Jora did not figure initially in the provisional list prepared by the Federation but made it after bettering the national mark, set by Kulwinder Singh in Chennai last August, by a whopping 177 points.
"I did not know the qualifying mark before the Federation Cup, but when I crossed the 7,500 level, I was quite confident of making it," Jora said.
The athlete is also banking on the experience gained through foreign exposure trips. He said the trip to South Africa earlier this year had helped him considerably.
"The Asian Athletics Championships in Korea last September was my first international competition at which I finished sixth. After that I learnt more about my discipline and how to get the most out of myself," he said.
Mentioning the Doha Asian Games as another major goal, he said he is looking to improve in his weak events to be a serious challenger in Qatar this December.
"I am looking to improve in 100m, long jump and high jump to take my score higher," he said.
"Presently I am running 100m in 11.4 seconds and plan to bring it down to 11 seconds, which can gain me 100 points," Jora said.
In long jump, he has managed 6.72m till now but wants to cross the seven metre mark, which he said would be worth another 100 points.
"I have improved from 1.80m to 1.86m in high jump in a short time. If I reach two metres, another 150 points would come to my kitty," Jora added.
He is also trying to get better at events he was already strong at -- discus throw, javelin throw, 1,500m and pole vault.
