New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) The Indian quartet of Dharamveer Choudhary, Rajesh Ramesh, Vishal TK, and Manu T.S. clocked an impressive time of 3:00.32 seconds, a season best, in the men’s 4x400m to finish fourth in their heat 3 on day one of World Athletics Relays at Gaborone’s National Stadium on Saturday.

The top two teams in each heat advanced to the final round on Sunday and earned an automatic spot for the World Athletics Championships 2027 in Beijing.

Sunday will be the second qualifying round. The Indian men’s 4x400m team, which finished overall 12th in the field today, has another chance to qualify for the Worlds on Sunday.

India’s season-best time of 3:01.43 in the 4x400m relay was clocked earlier this season in Chandigarh. The national record of 2:59.05 was set at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships in Hungary.

The national women’s 4x100m team of Tamanna, Nithya Gandhe, Sudeshna S, and Sneha SS, with a time of 43.97 seconds, a season best, finished fifth in heat 1. The Indian women’s team finished overall 13th.

The men’s 4x100m squad also clocked a season-best time of 39.07 seconds. The members were Harsh Raut, Ragul Kumar, Animesh Kujur, and Gurindervir Singh.

The 4x400m mixed relay team of Theerthesh P Shetty, Ansa Babu, Amoj Jacob, Rashdeep Kaur finished sixth in heat 1. The Indian team clocked 3:16.00 seconds, season best. The 4x100m mixed relay team didn’t finish the race in the first qualification round on Saturday.

The national women’s 4x100m relay team is grouped in heat 1. Other teams include Ireland, Australia, Canada, the USA, Poland, and Spain. India’s season best time is 44.18 seconds.

The Indian mixed 4x100m relay team is clubbed in heat 2. Paraguay, Belgium, Spain, China, the USA, France, and Poland are the other teams in the qualification round. India’s season-best time of 42.30 seconds was clocked earlier this season during a domestic meet in Chandigarh.

In the mixed 4x400m relay, India is grouped in heat 1. Uganda, Ireland, the USA, Belgium, Spain, and Australia are other nations grouped in heat 1.

–IANS

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