Indian Relay Teams Boost World Rankings in Final Botswana Qualifiers

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, according to a press release.

International Invitational Relay Competition and the third National Open Relay Competition were 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. The 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.

Results:

Men: 4x100m relay: Odisha (Abhinash Sahu, D Jayaram, Mahendra Santa, Lalu Prasad Bhoi) 40.47 seconds, Tamil Nadu 40.51 seconds, Jharkhand 41.10 seconds.

Men: 4x400m relay: India (Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, D Chaudhary, Rajesh Ramesh) 3:01.43 seconds, Sri Lanka 3:02.16 seconds, Tamil Nadu 3:07.59 seconds.

Men: U20: 4x100m relay: Tamil Nadu 41.58 seconds, Karnataka 42.03 seconds, Odisha 42.08 seconds.

Men: U20: 4x400m relay: Tamil Nadu 3:12.89 seconds, Punjab 3:13.41 seconds, Karnataka 3:17.26 seconds.

Women: 4x100m relay: India (Nithya Gandhe, Dhaneswari AT, Sudeshna S, Tamanna) 44.18 seconds, Reliance 45.52 seconds, Tamil Nadu 46.78 seconds.

Women: 4x400m relay: India (Vithya Ramraj, MR Poovamma, Rashdeep Kaur, Vijayakumari GK) 3:32.81 seconds, Sri Lanka (M Harshani, B Lakshima Mendis, MHJ Uththara, A Shenari W) 3:36.94 seconds, JSW (Swathi Rongali, Priya Mohan, Mugada, Prachi) 3:42.28 seconds.

Women: U20: 4x100 relay: Tamil Nadu 48.38 seconds, Gujarat 49.60 seconds, Karnataka 50.13 seconds.

Women: U20: 4x400m relay: Tamil Nadu 3:46.73 seconds, Punjab 3:53.75 seconds, Karnataka 4:16.77 seconds.

Mixed: 4x100m relay: India B (Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Unnathi Bollanda, D Jayaram, Harita Bhandra) 42.30 seconds, India A (Gurindervir Singh, Sudeshna Shivanka, Tamil Arasu S, Tamanna) 42.34 seconds, Maldives (A Rayyaan Fahumee, Ahnaa Nizaar, Hassan Saaid, Ziva Moosa Shafeeu) 44.53 seconds.

4x400m relay: India A (Vishal TK, Ansa Babu, Nihal Joel, K Saloni Nagar) 3:18.90 seconds, Sri Lanka (K Idupa Silva, A Shenari W, S Aruna Dharshana, M Harshani Fernan) 3:19.58 seconds, JSW (Mijo Kurian, Priya Mohan, Subhas Das, Prachi) 3:23.56 seconds.

Mixed: U20: 4x100m relay: Chandigarh 45.44 seconds, Karnataka 45.69 seconds, Punjab 45.92 seconds.

Mixed: U20: 4x400m relay: Tamil Nadu 3:30.88 seconds, Punjab 3:32.54 seconds, Gujarat 3:43.76 seconds.

- ANI