THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Tamil Nadu’s Rajesh Ramesh stamped his authority in the season-opening Indian Open, clinching 400m men’s Race A gold here on Saturday. Ramesh clocked 45.26 seconds, which was better than his personal best of 45.54 seconds posted in 2024.
Post 2024 Paris Olympics, Ramesh was sidelined due to injuries but made a good comeback last year to clock 45.75 seconds, a season best. Manu TS representing NCOE, Trivandrum, finished second in Race A with a time of 45.96 seconds while Delhi’s Amoj Jacob won Race C with a time of 45.99 seconds and finished overall third in the men’s group. The men’s final race was divided into three groups -- A, B C.
The women’s final race was conducted in two categories -- A and B. Vithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu won the women’s 400m Race A in 53.31 seconds. Rashdeep Kaur of JSW finished second with 53.62 seconds. Vijay Kumari GK of Karnataka won Race B, stopping the clock at 53.55 seconds and was declared overall third in the women’s 400m race.
Results:
Men 400m: Rajesh Ramesh (TN) 45.26 sec, Manu TS (NCOE Trivandrum) 45.96 sec, Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 45.99 sec.
U-20 400m: Piyush Raj (Bihar) 47.11 sec, Sahil Malik (Uttarakhand) 47.28 sec, Edvin Mathew (Kerala) 47.65 sec.
U-18 400m: Sayed Sabeer (Karnataka) 47.73 sec, Thanish Vijay Gaddam (Maharashtra) 48.17 sec, Hariharan R (NCOE Trivandrum) 48.31 sec.
Women 400m: Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.31 sec, Rashdeep Kaur (JSW) 53.62 sec, Vijay Kumari GK (Karnataka) 53.55 sec.
U-20 400m: Reshma (Uttar Pradesh) 54.84 sec, Isha Rajesh Jadav (Maharashtra) 55.46 sec, Dharani A (Tamil Nadu) 55.63 sec.
U-18 400m: Kashish Bhagat (Maharashtra) 56.46 sec, Nethra M (Tamil Nadu) 59.54 sec, Chaudhary Ashaben (Gujarat) 59.62 sec.