Fielding understrength teams after having qualified for the Paris Olympics, India's both the men's and women's 4x400m quartets finished second at the inaugural Asian Relay Championships in Bangkok last week.
The women's team of Vithya Ramraj, MR Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3 minutes 33.55 seconds to finish behind Vietnam (3:30.81) in the women's 4x400m relay final. Japan won the bronze medal.
The men's quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Santosh Kumar, Mijo Chacko Kurian and Arokia Rajiv also clocked 3:05.76 to finish second behind Sri Lanka (3:04.48). Vietnam was third.
The Indian mixed 4x400 relay team set a national record while winning the gold medal but missed the target of entering the Paris Olympics qualification bracket. The quartet of Muhammed Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3 minutes 14.12 seconds to win the race.
The timing would put the Indian mixed 4x400m team at the 21st place -from earlier 23rd -in the Road to Paris list of World Athletics while the aim was to be either in the 15th or 16th spot. India, thus, is in a difficult position to make the Olympics cut as only sixteen teams will compete in the mixed 4x400m relay event in Paris.
