Asian Games 2018: India's Mixed 4x400m Relay team of Muhammed Anas, Hima Das, MR Poovamma, and Rajiv Arokia wins Silver medal

What's the story?

The Indian Mixed 4x400m Team won the Silver medal in one of the most unique races of the eighteenth Asian Games.

In case you didn't know...

This was the first time ever that the Mixed Relay 4X400 mt event was being contested at the Asian Games.

Day 10 of the 2018 Asiad has been the best day for India as they managed to win 9 medals. The Men's Table Tennis team won a historic Bronze medal. The Indian Men's and Women's Compound teams clinched Silver Medals. PV Sindhu too had to settle for a Silver after her loss to World Number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the Women's singles final, but it was still a historic feat for the ace shuttler as she became the first to enter a badminton final at Asiad.

There were two medals won in Kurash -- an ancient martial arts form -- where Pincky Balhara and Malaprabha Yallappa Jadhav bagged silver & bronze, respectively. Meanwhile, Indian athletes kept making the nation proud. Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson had an exceptional race in Men's 800m. Jinson was the favourite but it was Manjit who bagged the gold and Jinson won Silver.

The day gets better as India's Mixed 4X400 mt relay team has bagged another silver for India.

The heart of the matter

The Indian Mixed 4x400 team finished with a timing of 3:15.71 to capture the Silver medal, behind Bahrain's team, who clinched gold by clocking 3:11.89. They finished just 3.82 seconds behind Bahrain.

Before they took to the field, however, they had already made a name for themselves elsewhere.

Both Muhammed Anas and Hima Das entered the event having already won a Silver medal each. Anas won one after finishing second in Men's 400m, while Hima Das did the same in Women's 400m.

Moreover, several of their Athletics' peers won medals over the course of the last few days as well.

Amongst those was Sprinter Dutee Chand, who was returning to the track after a long absence. Dutee ran brilliantly throughout the competition and finished second with a photo-finish in the Women's 100m event.

Apart from Dutee, both Dharun Ayyasamy and Sudha Singh also won Silver medals in track events. Elsewhere, Neena Varakil won the Silver in Women's Long Jump while Tajinderpal Singh Toor won the Gold in Men's Shot Put.

The biggest news so far, however, was that Neeraj Chopra also won a Gold medal, completely destroying his competition in the process. Chopra won the competition with complete dominance. So much so, that his worst attempt ranked better than the Silver-medal winning one.

Hima Das, Muhammed Anas Yahiya, MR Poovamma, and Rajiv Arokia were selected by the coaches as the four members of the Mixed 4x400m Relay team. The quartet decided to go with a Male, Female, Female, Male combination. In the end, it proved to be a winning one as the Indian Mixed 4x400m team won the Silver medal.

Muhammed Anas Yahiya started the race for India and quickly gained an unassailable lead. MR Poovamma came in at second, taking the baton from Anas. However, she was soon overtaken by Bahrain's Adekoya.

Hima Das came in at third and tried to cut short Bahrain's lead but then again Salma Naser proved to be just out of reach. Rajiv Arokia came in at fourth and ensured India's Silver medal, with third-placed Kazakhstan (3:19.52) not even coming close.

What's next?

India's stunning run in Athletics continued with yet another medal coming India's way. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for the future.

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Do you think that it is the beginning of a new era in Indian athletics? Do let us know in the comments section below.