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India won a bronze medal at the World U-20 Championships on Wednesday in the 4x400 meter mixed relay event. The quartet of Barath Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Summy and Kapil clocked 3 minutes 20.60 seconds to clinch bronze on the opening day of the competition.
The mixed relay event was introduced for the first time in the competition.
Nigeria won gold while Poland took home silver. Nigeria clocked 3 minutes 19.70 seconds while the Polish team won silver with a time of 3 minutes 19.80 seconds.
In the morning session, India topped heat 1 with a time of 3:21.66 seconds. But for the final, India replaced Abdul Razak Rasheed with Barath. The change made the difference.
Despite a tight schedule, it was a creditable performance by the Indian team. Athletes had to compete in preliminary rounds of mixed relay event and individual 400m heats.
Priya competed in both individual 400m qualification and mixed relay. She gave a good account of herself in both the events. Priya also made the cut for the final women’s 400m race as one of the fastest athletes. She clocked 53.79 seconds in her heats to finish fourth.
The top two in each of the three heats and two fastest athletes advanced into the final.
India’s shot putter Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal also entered the final of the men’s shot put event. His best throw of 17.92m placed him overall 11th in the field. The top 12 athletes enter the medal round.
Summy, another Indian 400m runner, failed to progress into the final of the women’s 400m race. Her time of 55.43 seconds placed her fifth in her heat.
India’s promising javelin thrower Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh was fourth in Group A to advance to the final scheduled for Friday. His best throw in qualification was 71.05m.
Jay Kumar, another Indian in Group B, also entered the medal round. He was third in his group with a best throw of 70.34m. The automatic qualification mark was 73m or 12 best athletes in the qualification round.
Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku won the gold medal in the men’s 3000m race. He clocked 7 minutes 42.09 seconds. Tadese’s compatriot Ali Abolimana won silver with a time of 7:44.55 seconds while Eritrea’s Habtom Samuel won bronze with a time of 7:52.69 seconds.
