JOIN USThe Indian women’s 4x400M relay team made a quick exit after finishing last in their semifinal heat at the 15th World Championships in athletics here on Saturday.
The quartet of Jisna Mathew, Tintu Luka, Debasree Majumdar and MR Poovamma timed its season’s best of 3:29.08 but that wasn’t enough to give them passage to the final.
India were placed 14th overall among 16 teams, ahead of Asian champions China (3:34.98) but behind Japan who clocked their national record of 3:28.91 to finish 15th.
Timing-wise, it was a decent performance but it showed where they stood at the moment in the world. Barring Jisna, who started off from the blocks, others ducked below 52 seconds as per split timings. Jisna clocked 53.06, Tintu 51.07, Majumdar 51.98 and Poovamma 51.87.
India had clocked 3:28.68 to win the Asian Games gold last year while they timed 3:33.81 to win the silver at the Asian Championships in Wuhan this year.
In a heat featuring the United States and Great Britain, India were left behind early and they made up the rear for most part. In the final leg, Poovamma battled it out hard with Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller at the end before the 400M silver medallist eased away.
In the men’s 50km walk, India’s Sandeep Kumar and Manish Rawat met the Rio Olympic qualification standards after finishing 26th and 27th respectively among 38 finishers.
Sandeep timed his season’s best of 3:57:03 and Manish 3:57:11, a career-best show. The Olympic qualification standard is 4:03:00. Both Sandeep and Manish are among the five Indian walkers who have already met the qualifying standard in the 20km walk.
Slovakia’s Matej Toth won the gold, his country’s first, covering the distance in 3:40:32. Result: Men’s 50km walk: Matej Toth (Slovakia) 3:40:32, 1; Jared Tallent (Australia) 3:42:17, 2; Takayuki Tanii (Japan) 3:42:55, 3.