Commonwealth Games 2022 athletics: Hima Das misses 200m final by a whisker
The Indian sprinter missed the cut by 0.02s in the semi-finals. The Indian men's 4x400m relay team, meanwhile, advanced to the final after finishing sixth in the heats.
Indian sprinter Hima Das failed to qualify for the women’s 200m final after finishing outside the top eight in the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, UK, on Friday.
Hima Das, who has recently made a transition to shorter races from 400m, clocked 23.42s to finish third in the semi-final 2 at the Alexander Stadium.
Overall, Hima Das was 10th among 24 semi-finalists and missed out on the qualification for the final by 0.02s. The Indian sprinter has a personal best of 22.88s in the 200m.
Only the top two from each of the three women’s 200m semi-finals and the next two fastest runners across the three groups qualified for the eight-woman final on Saturday.
Jamaican legend Elaine Thompson-Herah, who has five Olympic gold medals to her name, topped the semis with 22.63s.
In the women’s 200m heats, Hima Das, a former world junior champion and Asian Games silver medallist in the 400m, also managed a 23.42s in the heats. The time was enough to qualify her for the semis.
Hima Das will be in action next in the women’s 4x100m event on Saturday.
Indian men's 4x400m relay team in CWG final
Earlier in the day, the Indian men's 4x400m relay team of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Noah Nirmal Tom, Mohammed Ajmal and Amoj Jacob made the cut for the final with a timing of 3:06.97s in the heats.
The Indian team finished second in heat 2 and was the sixth-best team across the two heats.
The top three teams from each of the two heats and the next two fastest teams qualified for the men's 4x400m relay final on Sunday.
Amoj Jacob, who missed the world championships last month due to an injury, helped India with a strong finish with split timing of 45.93s. Amoj Jacob was the fastest among the four Indian runners.
The Olympian was part of India’s Asian record-breaking team at Tokyo 2020 last year and currently has India’s season-best time of 45.68s in the men’s 400m race.
Muhammed Anas Yahiya (47.0s) followed by Noah Nirmal Tom (47.5s) struggled with the starts but Muhammed Ajmal (46.43s), who came in third, gave India the much-needed push.
Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Botswana topped the heats in 3:05.11 followed by Tokyo 2020 finalists Jamaica, 00.09s behind. India’s best timing in the men’s 4x400m relay this year is 3:04.41s, achieved in June.
Long Jumper Ancy Sojan and hurdler Jyothi Yarraji out
Ancy Sojan in the women’s long jump and youngster Jyothi Yarraji competing in the women’s 100m hurdles crashed out in their respective heats.
With a 6.25m leap, Ancy Sojan finished 14th among 18 participants. The Indian long jumper needed a 6.75m jump to qualify directly or finish among the top 12.
In the women's 100m hurdles, Jyothi Yarraji clocked 13.18m to finish fourth in heat 2 and 10th overall.
Jyothi Yarraji, 22, broke the 20-year-old Indian national record earlier this year and bettered it thrice. Her current best timing is 13.04s. However, on Friday, Jyothi Yarraji could not match her best and failed to make the top eight finalists.