India's campaign at the World Athletics Relays ended in disappointment as the men's 4x400m and mixed 4x400m teams missed out on qualifying for the World Championships, to be held in Tokyo later this year. (Highlights)
The mixed 4x400m team of Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Rupal Chaudhary, Thennarasu Kayalvizhi Vishal and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3 minutes 14.81 seconds to finish fourth in heat number 2
India's campaign at the World Athletics Relays ended in disappointment as the men's 4x400m and mixed 4x400m teams missed out on qualifying for the World Championships, to be held in Tokyo later this year. (Highlights)
The mixed 4x400m team of Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Rupal Chaudhary, Thennarasu Kayalvizhi Vishal and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3 minutes 14.81 seconds to finish fourth in heat number 2.
The top three teams in each of the two heats qualified for the Worlds -- scheduled for September 13-21 in the Japanese capital.
On Saturday, the Indians had clocked 3:16.85 seconds to finish fifth in heat number 3. They got another chance on Sunday to book the World Championships berth but failed to do so.
Eight teams booked their World Championships berths on Saturday.
The men's 4x400m quartet of Jay Kumar, Dharmveer Choudhary, Thekkinalil Saji Manu and Rince Joseph did worse than their female counterparts, finishing seventh with a time of 3:04.49.
On Saturday, the Indian men's 4x400m team had clocked 3:03.92 to finish fifth in their heat. They got another chance on Sunday to book the World Championships berth but failed to do so.
The top 14 teams in each of the men's and women's 4x100m and 4x400m, plus the mixed 4x400m, will secure their place at the Tokyo World Championships.
The remaining two places in each event will be awarded based on top lists during the qualification period (February 25, 2024 to August 24, 2025).
India will now hope to be among these two remaining teams and try to clock better times in events during the qualification window.
The country had competed in the men's 4x400m in the 2023 World Championships in Hungary, where the Indian quartet gave a scare to the fancied United States before finishing second in the heat race with the then Asian record of 2:59.05.
The Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammed Ajmal had finished fifth in the final. The same team, however, failed to qualify for the final round in the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing fourth in the heat race.
India fielded a fresh team in the men's 4x400m relay here, leaving out the athletes that competed in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 Olympics.