Doha: India’s 4 x 400 mixed relay team, comprising Muhammad Anas, VK Vismaya, Nirmal Noah Tom and Jisna Mathew qualified for the final by finishing third in semi-finals of World Athletics Championships, here on Day 2.
The Indian mixed relay team finished behind Poland and Brazil with a time of 3:16.14s to reach the final on Saturday. As a result of finishing third, Indian team also secure their berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well.
Earlier, the Indian contingent had a disappointing day as ace sprinter Dutee Chand and MP Jabir both failed to advance in their respective events.
Dutee Chand’s campaign came to an end after she crashed out in the first round of the women’s 100m while 400m hurdler MP Jabir made an exit in the semi-finals.
Dutee clocked 11.48 seconds in her heat. She had failed to meet the qualifying standards for world championships in 2019 but she made it to Doha meet after getting an invite from the IAAF.
Dutee finished in 37th place overall and also failed to secure a berth for the Tokyo Olympics as a result. The qualification standard for the 2020 Games was set at 11.15 seconds.
On the other hand, Jabir finished fifth in men’s 400m hurdles semi-finals heat number 3 and 16th overall among 24 runners with a time of 49.71 seconds.
Reigning world champion Karsten Warholm of Norway led the runners into the finals with a timing of 48.28 seconds.
Earlier on Friday, Jabir had qualified for the semi-finals with a timing of 49.62 seconds but he could not improve upon it on Saturday. He has a personal best of 49.13 which he had clocked this year. (UNI)
