NEW DELHI: India’s women’s 4x100m relay team delivered a spectacular performance to clinch gold at the Asian Relay Championships 2026, defeating strong challengers China in a thrilling final in a season-best timing of 43.85 seconds.The quartet of Srabani Nanda, SS Sneha, Sudeshna Shivankar and Tamanna produced a near-perfect race, combining sharp baton exchanges and explosive finishing speed to edge ahead of China, who took silver in 44.09 seconds. Thailand claimed bronze with 44.11 seconds in an extremely tight contest.Coached by Martin Owens of the Reliance Foundation, the Indian team executed their race plan with precision, marking one of their most polished relay performances in recent years.
Strong individual brilliance powers India’s campaign
The gold medal capped a successful meet for Tamanna and Sneha Shanuvalli, who ended the championships with two medals each. Earlier, both had played key roles in India’s mixed 4x100m relay bronze alongside Animesh Kujur and Pranav Gurav.The mixed quartet clocked 41.27 seconds to secure third place behind Thailand (41.14s) and China (41.29s), ensuring India stayed competitive across sprint relay events.India also added a silver in the mixed 4x400m relay, where Theerthesh P Shetty, MR Poovamma, Barath Sridhar and Neeru Pathak combined for a strong run, finishing in 3:17.06 seconds behind Vietnam.WATCH: Indian team clinches 4x100m gold
Mixed results in 4x400m relays
Despite the sprint success, India faced disappointment in the 4x400m relay events. The women’s team of MR Poovamma, Rashdeep Kaur, Ansa Babu and Saloni Nagar finished fourth in 3:34.88 seconds, missing out on a podium finish as Vietnam took gold in 3:31.16.In the men’s 4x400m relay, Theerthesh P Shetty, Avinash Kumar, Suraj Alagar Raja and Barath Sridhar placed fifth with a timing of 3:05.33, while Vietnam again dominated the field to win gold.
India finish with three-medal haul
Overall, India concluded the championships with one gold, one silver and one bronze, underlining a competitive but inconsistent campaign across events. The absence of a men’s 4x100m team due to injuries also impacted the overall medal potential.The 2026 edition served as a crucial preparatory event ahead of a packed athletics calendar, including the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. India will next host the Asian Relay Championships in 2027 in Chandigarh.
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