A mix-up at the final baton exchange between number three runner Sameer Mon and anchor Manikandan Raj cost India dearly in the 4x100m relay heats at the Asian athletics championships here on Friday.
M. Vijaykumar and R. Krishnakumar kept the team in the hunt before the problem happened.
The anchor found the baton striking his outstretched hand and falling on the track.
In the 110m hurdles, Siddhanth Thingalaya shot off the blocks and remained ahead till the fifth hurdle, which he knocked down and lost rhythm to be edged out for the bronze by Japan’s Wataru Yarazava (13.88). Thingalaya timed 13.89s.
The 1,500m race developed into a tactical battle between the leaders, leaving the Indians in their wake. Sandeep Karan Singh (seventh) and Pranlal Gogoi (ninth) focused on completing the race.
Naveen Kumar brave attempt to keep pace with Africans running for Bahrain in the 3,000m steeplechase landed him a fourth place (8:49:95) finish. Jaiveer Singh was seventh.
Krishna Kumar Patel (73.36) and Rajinder Singh (71.82) ended fourth and seventh respectively in javelin throw.
Ankit Sharma looked out of sorts in the long jump pit, ending seventh with 7.35m on his third attempt.
In the women’s 1,500m, the Indians found the pace too hot after a promising start.
Sini Markose (4:17:14) was the best on view in fourth place, followed by O. Jaisha and Jhuma Khatun in fifth and sixth.
Manju Bala and Gunjan Singh, India’s entry in hammer throw, finished fifth and sixth respectively.
