Karnataka's Unnathi stars in India's national record show

Bengaluru: In an entertaining day on track and field, two Indian teams fought tooth and nail in a photo finish to set a new national record in mixed 4x100m relays at the International Invitational Relay and National Open Relay Competitions in Chandigarh on Saturday.

India B, featuring Karnataka's Unnathi Aiyappa, didn't just stun the India A team (42.34 seconds) by clocking 42.30 seconds to the top but also improved their world ranking to 19th with just a week left in the qualification period for the World Relay Championships in Botswana in May, which only includes the top 24 as per its ranking.

The rest of the members of the NR efforts were Lalu Prasad Bhoi, D Jayaram and Harita Bhadra.

India have also confirmed their World Relays qualification in the men's 4x400m relay as the quartet of Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh, Dharmveer Choudhary clocked 3.01.43 seconds to improve India's ranking to 15th.

India are in favourable positions in the women's 4x100m (World No. 22) and mixed 4x100 (No. 23) with the cut-off date set at April 5.

However, it was anti-climax for the runners in the men's 4x100m and women's 4x400m relays with India getting disqualified in the former heats due to a lange infringement by Karnataka's Manikanta Hoblidhar, who pulled a hamstring and stepped on the line. 

The women's 4x400m relay team, featuring state's GK Vijayakumari and MR Poovamma, won the final by a margin at 3:32.81 but fell well short of the required timing of 3:31.37 or less to enter the top 24.

U-20 runners shine

Even if a gold remained elusive, it was a good outing for Karnataka's under-20 quartets as they picked up five medals -- two silvers and three bronze -- at the event. 

The foursome of Sarvajeeth, Yashas D, Reehan Kumar and Ayush Devadiga clocked 42.03 seconds to finish second in the men's 4x100m race behind Tamil Nadu (41.58s). 

The second silver came in the mixed 4x100m relay when Atheeq Ahamed, Srishti V, Hemanth Gowda MY and Lekhana S Prasad crossed the finish line in 45.69s to occupy the second position on the podium. Chandigarh (45.44s) took gold while Punjab (45.92s) claimed the bronze.  

Results: Relays: Men: 4x100m: Odisha 40.47, 1; Tamil Nadu 40.51, 2; Jharkhand 41.10, 3.

4x400m: India A (Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, Rajesh, Dharmveer Choudhary) 3:01.43, 1; Sri Lanka A 3:02.16, 2; Tamil Nadu 3:07.59, 3. 

U-20: 4x100m: Tamil Nadu 41.58, 1; Karnataka (Sarvajeeth, Yashas D, Reehan Kumar, Ayush Devadiga) 42.03, Odisha 42.08, 3.

4x400m: Tamil Nadu 3:30.88, 1; Punjab (3:32.54), 2; Gujarat 3:43.76, 3. 

Women: 4x100m: India A (Nithya Gandhe, Daneshwari AT, Sudehsna Shivankar, Tamanna) 44.18, 1; Reliance 45.52, 2; Tamil Nadu 46.78, 3. 

4x400m: India A (R Vithya Ramraj, Povamma MR, Rashdeep Kaur, Vijayakumari GK) 3:32.81, 1; Sri Lanka A 3:36.94, 2; JSW 3:42.28, 3. 

U-20: 4x100m: Tamil Nadu 48.38, 1; Gujarat 49.60, 2; Karnataka (Siri N, S Karkada, Akshaya Shekar, Lekhana S Prasad) 50.13, 3.

4x400m: Tamil Nadu 3:46.73, 1; Punjab 3:53.75, 2; Karnataka (Akshaya Shekar, Sonal D Mello, Sharika V, Isha Renjith) 4:16.77, 3.

Mixed: 4x100m: India B (Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Unnathi Aiyyapa, D Jayaram, Harita Bhadra) NR: 42.30, 1; India A (Gurindervir Singh, Sudeshna Shivankar, Tamil Arasu, Tamana) 42.34, 2, Maldives 44.43, 3.

4x400m: India A (Vishal TK, Ansa Babu, Nihal Joel, Saloni Nagar) 3:18.90, 1; Sri Lanka 3:19.58, 2; JSW 3:23.56, 3.

U-20: 4x100m: Chandigarh 45.44, 1; Karnataka (Atheeq Ahamed, Srishti V, Hemanth Gowda MY, Lekhana S Prasad) 45.69, 2; Punjab 45.92, 3.