Asian Games 2018: Women's 4x400m relay team win fifth consecutive gold

The team comprising Hima Das, MR Poovamma, Saritaben Gayakwad and Vismaya Velluva Koroth clocked 3:28.72 seconds to win gold at the GBK Sports Complex here last night

India's most consistent quartet at the Asian Games, the 4x400m women's relay team, finished in familiar position, clinching its fifth consecutive gold at the continental showpiece competition yesterday.

The team comprising Hima Das, MR Poovamma, Saritaben Gayakwad and Vismaya Velluva Koroth clocked 3:28.72 seconds to win gold at the GBK Sports Complex here last night.

The win was special considering the Indian girls were beaten comprehensively by athletes from Bahrain earlier here. And though Bahrain's top quarter-miler and Asia's No. 1 ranked runner Naser Salwa gave the race a skip, the Indians must be given credit for pacing their run perfectly. Bahrain (3:30.61s) took silver, while Vietnam (3:33.23s) took bronze. "The idea was to beat the Bahrain team this time and for that, we chose our best runners, Hima and myself to go first and second respectively," said Povamma. Hima began well and gave the Indians the lead before Povamma consolidated their position. "Once Hima gave us a good start and I kept up the lead, it became that much easier for the other two girls to keep up the lead," added Povamma.

The Indians were so dominant that they nearly broke the Asian Games record of 3:28.68s set in Incheon by an Indian team comprising Priyanka Pawar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and Povamma. "We were so close to the record and could have broken it but unfortunately missed out," rued Povamma.

Also read: Asian Games 2018: India's 4x400m mixed relay appeal against Bahrain rejected

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