Telangana’s Nithya and Sneha part of Indian team that rewrites mixed 4x100m natl record

Telangana athletes Nithya Gandhe and Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli  were part of the Indian team that rewrote the mixed 4x100m relay National record even as none of the five Indian teams secured World Championships qualification from the World Athletics Relays 2026 in Gaborone, Botswana, on Sunday.

Amidst the gloom the performance of the mixed 4x100m relay team is still reason to celebrate. The Indian mixed 4x100m relay team of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli clocked 41.35 – a new national record time in the event – to finish sixth in their eight-team heat.

All five Indian teams fail to make finals of World Athletics Relays 2026 in Gaborone

India failed to finish their race in the first round of the event’s qualifiers on Saturday. Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Unnathi Bolanda, Harita Bhadra and Jayaram Dondapati had established the previous record of 42.30, set at the National Open Relay in Chandigarh earlier this year.

Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli. Pic: IANS

Having missed their first opportunity on Saturday, the teams needed to finish among the top two in their respective heats on Sunday to qualify directly for the 2027 World Athletics Championships scheduled in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

India fielded a second-string team featuring Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur in the mixed 4x400m race. The quartet finished fifth in their heat with a time of 3:19.40.

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Olympian Amoj Jacob and Ansa Babu, who ran in the first round of qualifiers on Saturday, were rested on Sunday. Jacob, however, lined up for the men’s 4x400m heats, with Dharmveer Choudhary, fellow Olympian Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal Thennarasu Kayalvizhi, but was unable to finish the race due to cramps as India logged a DNF.

Women’s team finishes last

Tamanna, Nithya Gandhe, Sudeshna Shivankar and Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli, meanwhile, clocked 53.90 to finish last in their six-team women’s 4x100m heats.

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In the men’s 4x100m relay, Harsh Santosh Raut, Animesh Kujur, Ragul Kumar and Gurindervir Singh were disqualified in their heat after a baton drop during the exchange between Ragul and Gurindervir.

On the opening day, the top two relay teams from each heat, along with the next two fastest teams overall, advanced to the finals and clinched automatic berths for the World Athletics Championships.

Four of the five Indian teams, mixed 4x400m, women’s 4x100m, men’s 4x100m and men’s 4x400m, finished outside the qualification spots in their respective heats on Saturday despite logging season’s best times.