India are into the final of the men's 4x400m relay at the 2023 World Championships final after a stunning run in heat 1 on Saturday in Budapest.
The quartet of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh clocked a new Asian record time of 2:59.05 to finish second behind favourites USA (who ran 2:58.47). The two teams were joined by Great Britain who took the third automatic qualifying spot with 2:59.42.
Who saw this coming ��
India punches its ticket to the men's 4x400m final with a huge Asian record of 2:59.05 ��#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/fZ9lBqoZ4h
- World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 26, 2023
It was a very fast race, with Britain, fourth placed Botswana (by eight thousandths of a second), fifth placed Japan, seventh placed Trinidad and Tobago and eighth placed Spain all hitting season's best timings. The other two teams in the heat Czech Republic (6th) and Hungary (9th) created national records.
Japan held the earlier Asian record of 2:59.51, with India's previous national record of 3:00.25, set in 2021, also broken by this effort from the Indian men's relay team.
In the other heat, Jamaica, France, and Italy took the automatic qualification slots (Jamaica winning with 2:59.82) while Botswana and Netherlands qualified as the next two fastest teams.
In the women's event, Jamaica, Canada, and Netherlands qualified automatically from heat 1, while Great Britain, Belgium and Italy did the same from heat 2. Poland and Ireland qualified as the next two fastest teams. In quite the shocking development, favourites USA, who finished second in heat 2, were disqualified for an out-of-zone baton exchange on the anchor leg.
The men's final will be the penultimate event of the Championship, the women's the last one. Before that, there is Indian interest in the men's javelin as well, with Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, DP Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena in action (from approximately 11.45 PM IST).