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The Indian men's team as well as the mixed 4x400m team failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events at the ongoing World Athletics Relays 2025 in Guangzhou, China on Saturday, according to Olympics.com.
Both teams finished fifth in their respective heats, missing out on a chance to secure early qualification for the World Athletics Championships 2025, set to be held in Tokyo this September. On the opening day, quotas were on offer to the top two teams in each heat in every relay event (except the 4x100m). The two teams also made the finals and will race for World Championships lane seeding and medals on Sunday. The Indian mixed team of Jay Kumar, Sneha Kolleri, Dharmveer Choudhary and Rupal clocked 3:16.85 in Heat 3. Great Britain & Northern Ireland (3:13.28) and South Africa (3:13.79) were the top two in the group. Overall, the Indian mixed team placed 15th among 21 teams. The United States posted a world-leading time of 3:11.37 in Heat 2 to clock the best time across heats. India's national record in the mixed 4x400m team event is 3:12.87s set at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships 2024 in Panchkula. The men's team of Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan, Manu Thekkinalil Saji, Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi and Mohit Kumar, meanwhile, recorded a time of 3:03.92 in Heat 4. France (3:00.30) and Kenya (3:00.88) secured qualification from the heat, while India finished 15th overall among all heats. South Africa topped the overall standings with a time of 3:00.00. India's national record in the men's 4x400m is 2:59.05, clocked at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest. While the Indian teams missed their first opportunity to qualify, they will have a second shot on Sunday. All non-finalists will compete in additional qualifying heats, with the top two from each of the three groups securing World Championships berths. In case they fail to secure Tokyo 25 spots from Guangzhou, India can also qualify based on their position in the top performance lists during the qualification window, which runs from February 25, 2024, to August 24, 2025. Only two teams from the top lists from each event will make the cut. Olympians Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan, who are part of the Indian relay squad, did not feature on Saturday. (ANI)
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