Indians create Asian record at World U-20 Athletics Championships

Ashakiran Barla also made it to the semi-finals of the women's 800m event.

The Mixed 4x400m team of Barath Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Kapil and Rupal clocked 3:19.62 to create a new Asian U-20 record, qualifying for the finals at the World Athletics Championships Juniors.

The mixed relay team competed in the third heat with Germany, Great Britain & NI, Poland, South Africa, and Romania. India boasted of the best pre-event cumulative time. Sridhar got away from lane 8 with very quick reflexes, building and maintaining a sizeable gap but team Poland, Germany and Great Britain were soon in hot pursuit of Priya Mohan after the first baton exchange.

Excellent pace management from Priya resulted in her having enough steam to remain ahead and pass the baton to Kapil. Kapil put in a very strong run, extending the advantage over Charles in second place but the German caught up and passed on the baton fractions quicker than Kapil. Germany led but not for long, as Rupal overtook and opened a massive gap to send India to the final, setting a new Asian U-20 Record. Very impressive from team India, finishing with a gap of 2.79 seconds to Germany in second. The team that won Bronze last year looks in blistering form.

Strong results elsewhere in World U-20 Athletics Championships

Arjun Waskale finished 26th overall with a time of 3.51.10 in the 1500m qualifications and failed to make it to the finals. Laxita Sandilea managed a 2:12.38, finishing 32nd in the 800m qualifications. In the men’s shot-put prelims, Sanyam Sanjay finished 13th  (sixth in Group A) and missed out on the final by just 0.01m after managing a put of 18.36m. Sawan finished 15th with an effort of 18.31m. Graceson Almada finish fifth and did not make the cut to the finals in the men’s 110m hurdles. Aman Khokhar finished seventh in the 100m heats with 10.84 seconds.

Ashakiran Barla made it to the semi-finals of the women's 800m event. She finished sixth in her race, with the timing - 2:09.01s. Barla began the first 800m from lane 1, having the inside. She got off the line slowly but soon caught up with the leading pack. She was a close second behind Kenyan Chepchirchir till the 400m mark but fell back down to sixth as Sadek streaked away, blocking the inside. The chasing pack had enough stamina to outrun the Indian. Barla managed to hold off Knelsen for sixth, finishing 2.35 seconds off the lead.