Noah Nirmal Tom, Vithya Ramraj win at Indian Open 400m competition

The season opener Indian Open 400m 2024 at LNCPE, Kariyattom witnessed close races in men and women’s sections, hiting at intense competition for places in the squad for the World Relay Championships in May.

The men’s 400m final was a three-horse race between Noah Nirmal Tom, Muhammed Anas Yahiya and V. Muhammed Ajmal. The trio pulled ahead from the rest of the field after the first curve. Noah got the lead at the second bend with Anas and Ajmal in close pursuit. Noah managed to ward off his challengers to finish in 46.40s. National record-holder Yahiya came second in 46.48s while Muhammed Ajmal was third in 46.68s. The men’s event lost some of the gloss after Amoj Jacob pulled out before the heats due to back spasms.

Vithya Ramraj and Poovamma Raju came first in their respective finals (A and B) but the former was declared the winner for having better timing. Vithya’s main rival was Rupal Choudhary who was coming back from injury. Vithya hit the front after the first bend and strode effortlessly to win in 52.25s. Poovamma and Dandi Jyothika Sri were engaged in a see-saw battle in the second final, which saw Poovamma pip Jyothika at the finish. Poovama won the race in 52.69s to finish second overall while Jyothika was third in 52.75.

National junior champion D. Sai Sangeetha, who was reinstated after winning an appeal against foul start in the heats, led from start to finish to win the girls under-20 event in 55.30 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s Naveen Kumar won the boys under-20 event with a timing of 47.40s.