Piyush Raj, Sahil Malik qualify for World U-20 Championships at Indian Open 400m meet

Thiruvananthapuram: Bihar's Piyush Raj and Uttarakhand's Sahil Malik achieved the qualification standard for the World Athletics U-20 Championships after finishing first and second in the U-20 men's 400m at the Indian Open meet held at LNCPE, Thiruvananthapuram, on Saturday. Piyush clinched gold with a career-best 47.11 seconds, while Sahil took silver in 47.28 seconds, with both athletes going under the qualifying mark. Kerala's Edvin Mathew finished third in 47.65 seconds. Piyush, who had won silver in the 400m at last year's Indian Open Athletics Meet, said he was happy to improve on that result and take gold after a strong run. Their performances take the number of Indian athletes to have met the men's 400m qualification standard for the 2026 World U-20 Athletics Championships to three. Kerala's Mohammed Ashfaq had earlier qualified after winning gold at the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships in October 2025 in 46.87 seconds. He later improved his personal best to 46.56 while winning silver at the SAF Games in Ranchi. The 2026 World U-20 championships will be held in Oregon from Aug 5 to 9. In the senior men's section, Tamil Nadu's Rajesh Ramesh produced the standout performance of the meet. The 27-year-old quarter-miler won Race A in 45.26 seconds, bettering his previous personal best of 45.54 set in 2024. After battling injuries following the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ramesh returned in 2025 with a season-best 45.75, and his latest effort signalled an encouraging start to the new season.Manu TS of NCOE, Thiruvananthapuram finished second in Race A in 45.96 seconds, while Delhi's Amoj Jacob won Race C in 45.99 seconds to place third overall. In the women's 400m, Tamil Nadu's Vithya Ramraj won in 53.31 seconds. Rashdeep Kaur of JSW was second in 53.62, while Karnataka's Vijay Kumari GK, who won Race B in 53.55, finished third overall. Results: Men: Rajesh Ramesh (Tamil Nadu) 45.26s, Manu TS (NCOE Thiruvananthapuram) 45.96s, Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 45.99s; U20: Piyush Raj (Bihar) 47.11s, Sahil Malik (Uttarakhand) 47.28s, Edvin Mathew (Kerala) 47.65s; U18: Sayed Sabeer (Karnataka) 47.73s, Thanish Vijay Gaddam (Maharashtra) 48.17s, Hariharan R (NCOE Thiruvananthapuram) 48.31s; Women: Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.31s, Rashdeep Kaur (JSW) 53.62s, Vijay Kumari GK (Karnataka) 53.55s; U20: Reshma (Uttar Pradesh) 54.84s, Isha Rajesh Jadav (Maharashtra) 55.46s, Dharani A (Tamil Nadu) 55.63s; U18: Kashish Bhagat (Maharashtra) 56.46s, Nethra M (Tamil Nadu) 59.54s, Chaudhary Ashaben (Gujarat) 59.62s