India made history at World Athletics Championship -as for first-ever, mixed team reached finals and reby booked a birth in Tokyo Olympics. mixed relay team, comprising of Muhammed Anas, Vismaya, Krishna Maw and ah Nirmal finished third in 2nd heat of semi-finals with a time of 3:16.14s to qualify for final of 4x400m in Doha on Saturday night.  "We are extremely happy. Despite a baton fumble we recovered and mand to pull this one up. Apart from fumble, we had excellent coordination with each or and all four of us ran our best. We will try to give our best in finals," Md Anas told Republic TV over phone from Doha after super performance. Earlier, Dutee Chand, clocked 11.48 seconds in her heat, well below her season-best, to finish in 37th place & crash out in first round of women's 100m. 

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Dutee fails to qualify for Tokyo 2020

Dutee had failed to meet qualifying standards for world championships in 2019 but she made it to Doha meet after getting an invite from IAAF. She also failed to qualify for Tokyo Olympics as qualification standard for 2020 Games was set at 11.15 seconds. 400m hurdler MP Jabir finished fifth in men's 400m hurdles semifinals heat number 3 and 16th overall among 24 runners with a time of 49.71 seconds. top two finishers in each of three semifinal heats and next two fastest runners qualify for finals. Jabir had qualified for semifinals with a timing of 49.62 seconds on Friday but he could t improve upon it on Saturday. He has a personal best of 49.13 which he had clocked this year.

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India miss Hima Das and Neeraj Chopra

re is doubt that India will feel absence of two of its leading athletes, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and 400m sprinter Hima Das. Both have experience of winning gold at World Junior Championships, but injuries have kept m out of World Championships here. Yet, morale of squad is high as each athlete will attempt to give his or her best.19-year-old Hima Das was t fully fit for World Relay Championships held in Yokohama last May as she was suffering from Lumbar Spondylitis and which could be career-threatening to her. Das suffered a muscle spasm in Asian Athletic Championships in Doha after which she was t able to complete her race in April this year.

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