The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Rames finish second behind USA in Heats.
Budapest: The Indian men’s 4x400m relay team shattered Asian record, clocking 2 minute 59.05 seconds to qualify for their maiden final round of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh ran a stunning race to finish second in heat number one behind USA (2:58.47s) to make it to the final to be held on Sunday.
The earlier Asian record of 2:59.51 was in the name of Japanese team. The top three finishers in each of the two heats and the next two fastest qualify for the final.
Who saw this coming 😳
India punches its ticket to the men’s 4x400m final with a huge Asian record of 2:59.05 👀#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/fZ9lBqoZ4h
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 26, 2023
After the first leg, India were trailing in sixth position but Amoj took the nation to the second place Ramesh and Ajmal ensuring that they don’t suffer any hiccups. In fact, in the final leg, Rajesh was leading against USA’s Justin Robinson.
They were followed by Great Britain and Botswana, both clocking 2:59.42. Britain grabbed the third automatic qualifying spot, while Botswana advanced on time. Jamaica won the second heat in 2:59.82s – and they’ll have individual champion Antonio Watson to bring in for the final.
France took second place from Italy and Netherlands, all of them making it through to the final. But the final will be without Belgium, as they missed out by one place. Japan also surprisingly missed the cut.
With PTI Inputs
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