Chandigarh, March 28 (IANS) The members of the national men’s longer relay and mixed 4x100m relay squad were excited to have improved their global rankings on Road to Gaborone26 here at Chandigarh’s Sector 7 Sports Complex on Saturday.

The World Athletics Relays will be held on May 2 and 3 in Gaborone, Botswana.

But it was heartbreak for the men’s 4x100m relay team as they were disqualified in the heats at the first International Invitational Relay Competition and third National Open Relay Competition held here in Chandigarh on Saturday.

Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, D Chaudhary and Rajesh Ramesh were members of the 4x400m relay team that won gold with a time of 3:01.43 seconds to better their global ranking.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) fielded two teams in the mixed 4x100m relay, and members of both teams did exceedingly well, chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair said.

National B mixed 4x100m relay team won gold with a time of 42.30 seconds to better the national record of 43.44 seconds set by Tamil Nadu in 2025.

India A finished second with a time of 42.34 seconds. Maldives finished third with a time of 44.53 seconds.

However, India’s international sprinter and national record holder, Animesh Kujur was disappointed for missing a golden chance to board the flight to Botswana.

“The competition in Chandigarh was the last chance for the 4x100m relay squad to improve their world ranking before the deadline of April 5, but we missed,” Kujur, a member of the national 4x100m relay team added.

The national mixed 4x400m relay and women’s 4x100m relay teams are also strong contenders to win tickets to the World Athletics Relays to be held on May 2 and 3 in Gaborone, Botswana.

The national women’s 4x100m relay clocked 43.86 seconds at the 2025 Gumi Asian Athletics Championships. The current world ranking is 23.

The national 4x400m mixed relay current World Ranking of 22 is based on the 3:14.81 performance at the World Relays in China.

“The World Athletics will declare the final rankings of the nations eligible to compete in Botswana after April 5, 2026,” the chief athletics coach added.

–IANS

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