Amoj Jacob's flying lap of 45.93 sec in the anchor leg and Muhammed Ajmal's fighting performance helped India bag an automatic qualification spot in the men's 4x400m relay final on Friday.
At the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, the Indian squad, also comprising Muhammed Anas Yahiya and Noah Nirmal Tom, were up against Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago in Heat 2.
Anas timed a modest 47.09s in the opening lap before handing over the baton to Tom, who failed to force the pace and settled for a time of 47.52 seconds but Ajmal turned the tide in the third lap as he cracked the 47-second barrier to clock 46.43s at the changeover.
Jacob made full use of the good work put in by Ajmal as he blazed home in 45.93 seconds. The 24-year-old almost caught up with Kenya's Boniface Mweresa (45.61s) as he led India to the second spot.
India's qualifying time of 3:06.97s put them in the sixth spot in the leaderboard. In the title round, India will start as the sixth fastest. Botswana topped the charts with 3:05.11 followed by Jamaica (3:05.20) and Zambia (3:06.02).
Ancy, Jyothi exit
In 100m hurdles, 22-year-old Jyothi Yarraji, who improved the national record more than once this season, crashed out after clocking 13.18 seconds to finish fourth in Heat 3. "It was a big learning experience for Jyothi and it has made her hungrier for more. She went into the race as the 13th fastest in the field and she finished 10th overall," Jyothi's coach James Hillier told TOI from Birmingham.
