Nagoya, Sep 29 (IANS) India signed off from the mixed 4x100m relay final at the Asian Games 2026 with a bronze medal and a new national record as Gurindervir Singh, Sneha Sathyanarayana, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra combined to clock 41.06 seconds in Nagoya on Tuesday.

The Indian quartet produced a season-best effort to finish third, improving the previous National Record of 41.35 seconds set by Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh and Sneha at the World Relays 2026 in Gaborone.

China claimed the gold medal in 40.78 seconds, while Thailand finished second in 40.87 seconds. India crossed the line in 41.06 seconds, 0.28 seconds behind the champions.

For Harita, the bronze marked her second medal of the Games after she had earlier secured bronze in the women’s 200m final.

Harita clocked 23.20 seconds to finish third in the 200m, becoming the first Indian woman since Dutee Chand in 2018 to win an Asian Games medal in the event. The 23-year-old Maharashtra sprinter had entered the Games after improving her personal best to 23.14 seconds at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships.

Animesh, meanwhile, also finished fifth in the men’s 200m final with a time of 20.80 seconds. The 22-year-old sprinter, who had won bronze and set a national record of 20.32 seconds at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships, has emerged as one of India’s leading short-distance runners.

Gurindervir, India’s national record holder in the men’s 100m, was another key member of the Indian quartet. He clocked 10.09 seconds in May this year to become the first Indian man to run the 100m under 10.10 seconds.

Sneha, who specialises in the 100m and 4x100m relay, is also part of India’s senior relay setup. She was a member of the Indian women’s 4x100m team that won gold at the 2026 Asian Relays Championships in China.

--IANS

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