India’s relay night turns golden in Nagoya; women cap memorable run

NAGOYA: India enjoyed a superb outing in the relay events at the Asian Games on Tuesday, striking gold in the women's 4x400m and adding bronze medals in the men's 4x400m and mixed 4x100m. The women's quartet of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi and Vithya Ramraj claimed gold in 3:29.69. Bahrain finished second in 3:30.21, while China took bronze in 3:31.02. The victory gave India its first athletics gold of the Games and added another highlight to an already strong showing on the track.

India also made the podium in the men's 4x400m, with Manu T.S., Dharamveer Choudhary, Vishal T.K. and Rajesh Ramesh combining for a 3:01.61 finish. Japan won gold and Qatar took silver. For Manu, it was his second medal of the Games. He had earlier been part of India's silver-winning mixed 4x400m relay team.

Vithya Ramraj, meanwhile, completed a three-medal haul in Nagoya. After winning silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bronze in the 400m hurdles, she added gold in the women's 4x400m. Her hurdles bronze came with a personal best of 54.75 seconds, which also saw her break P.T. Usha's 42-year-old national record.

The third relay medal came in the mixed 4x100m, where Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Harita Bhadra and Sneha S.S. clocked 41.06 seconds for bronze. China won in 40.78 seconds, with Thailand taking silver in 40.87. Harita Bhadra produced a strong finish for India in the closing stages, adding another medal to the bronze she had already won in the 200m.

The mixed 4x100m bronze was also India's first medal in the event since 1990, when the Indian women's team won silver at the Beijing Asian Games.